Persona: Guns and Glasses
by Loveless-KIRA
Summary: Thanatos, God of Death; Izanami, Goddess of Oblivion-Their battle to decide man's fate will be played out when SEES faces off against the Investigation Team. What will be Humanity's fate? ...Will it be Blissful Oblivion, or Death that awaits..? Ch. 13 up!
1. Piece Un: The 'Allies of Justice'

The Id, The Ego, and The Super-Ego; The Shadows, Man, and Persona. From them spurned forth the God and Goddess who would fight for the destiny of humanity. When SEES faces off against the Special Investigation Team, who will be crowned the True Heirs of the Arcana? The outcome of this battle will decide Humanity's fate! ...Will it be Blissful Oblivion, or Death?

Pairings...? Like I'd give that away from the get-go. ;]

* * *

**_Prologue_**

A butterfly with wings of neon sapphire flew silently through the darkness.

_You who wield the pillar of strength that connects Man's darkest desires to God above; _

_The façade used to overcome life's hardships;_

_In this ordeal what path will you choose for humanity,_

_As stewards to the reckoning that will come…?_

The entire room was blanketed in suede that was an otherworldly deep blue. The strange man looked across the table at his guest, smiling, his round, black eyes staring unblinkingly at the guest who had just arrived. He rested his sharp little chin on his bony, interlocked fingers.

"Welcome. My, what an unexpected guest! I'm delighted to see you here however."

He grinned, bearing his sharp, inhuman teeth.

"…Now then, shall we begin?"

He spread the tarot cards across the table, and flipped up the face down card in the middle.

"I see... Very intriguing..."

* * *

_**Chapitre I – Guns and Glasses**_

_**

* * *

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_**Piece Un – The 'Allies of Justice'**_

Yosuke sat on a beach chair in the sand, his eyelids drooping lazily as he looked out at the sea. The relaxing rush of the waves coming in and out lulled him to a sleepy, blissful stupor.

"Mmm—Yosuke, I never realized how much of a stud you are…" Rise cooed as she traced one slender finger along his bare chest. She was lying prone in a pink two-piece, on a blanket on the sand.

"Ha! That's because you never took the time to look." Yosuke replied smugly as he sipped on a cocktail of different Junes brand fruit juices. Non alcoholic of course. A single, cool drop of lemon juice dripped from the bright yellow lemon slice placed at the rim of the cup, and fell into the now empty glass.

"Fetch me another glass, Bear-servant." He said regally as he placed the empty glass on the silver tray Teddie had balanced on one hand.

"Right away, sire." Teddie replied with a bow and promptly went away.

"Chie, dear, why not take a break and sit with me awhile?" Yosuke asked.

"Y-yes sir Lord Yosuke!" Chie replied enthusiastically, laying down the banana leaf she had been fanning Yosuke with, and sat with him. She giggled nervously.

"Mm, Yukiko, that's fantastic—", Yosuke purred as Yukiko massaged sun-tan lotion on his back.

"Thank you sir!" She said.

"This is the life…" Yosuke sighed contentedly. He turned to Naoto and opened his mouth, and she in turn dropped a grape into it.

Suddenly Teddie came running back, sans fruit juice cocktail. "YOSUKE!" He yelled.

"Calm yourself, Bear-servant. Where's my drink!"

Suddenly, Rise's face transmogrified into that of a plump, cartoon bear; with giant, prying eyes like saucers.

"YOSUKE!" She screamed, her voice suddenly that of Teddie's.

"W-what the hell!" Yosuke exclaimed, backing away into Yukiko. She rested her chin on his shoulder, and suddenly her face was the same as Teddie and Rise's.

"YOSUKE!"

Yosuke screamed, frantically flinging sand as he clawed and crawled away from them. Naoto tapped him on the shoulder and he spun around, and to his horror Naoto's face too transformed into Teddie's.

Suddenly all four of the girls' faces had turned into Teddie's, all screaming his name; all with the bodies of Chie, Rise, Naoto and Yukiko.

"AHHHHHHH-!"

Yosuke awoke with a start, screaming.

"AHHHHHHH-!"

"Finally!" Teddie exclaimed, leaning over him. "I've been trying to wake you up!"

"YOU STUPID BEAR!" Yosuke cried, grabbing Teddie by the neck and shaking him, "I WAS HAVING THE GREATEST DREAM OF ALL TIME! AND YOU-!"

"What's taking so long!" A familiar voice called from outside Yosuke's room.

"What are you guys—Ohhh my God—!" It was Chie. She was pointing at something on Yosuke's bed.

"What-?" Yosuke paused from strangling Teddie to look down at what Chie was pointing at.

"W-wait it's not like that!"

"YOU PERV!" Chie roared, producing an armful of shoes seemingly out of nowhere.

"FREAK! EW EW EW!" she yelled as she hurled the shoes at Yosuke, Teddie being caught in the crossfire.

"Ow! Chie-! Stop! Augh!"

"IS THIS WHAT YOU TWO ALWAYS DO TOGETHER WHEN YOU'RE ALONE AT NIGHT!" Chie yelled, continuing to hurl shoes.

"Yosuke! There's a monster under your sheets! I'll get it!" Teddie yelled. He took a sledgehammer, also seemingly out of nowhere, and held it above his head. The solid lead head of the sledgehammer eclipsed the light from the room's ceiling fan, like an ominous omen foretelling the pain that was to come.

"TED-! NOOOOOOO!" Yosuke howled.

[Five minutes later…]

"Yosuke… I thought it might be a Shadow… I'm sorry, really!" Teddie said, bowing apologetically.

"Just… just leave it…" Yosuke growled. He was holding an ice pack on his lap.

"You two are such freaks." Chie said.

"Can we… Vow never to speak of this again…?" Yosuke said quietly, hanging his head.

"Anyway," He said, "What do you guys want?"

"That's right!" Said Chie, "I totally forgot for a second because of what happened but you totally need to check out the news right now!" She turned on the T.V.

"—And we're continuing live coverage of the unknown creature wreaking havoc just outside the Samegawa Flood Plain in the town of Inaba. Japanese Self Defense forces are said to be en route to the scene as we speak, as dozens of local police are—"

"What the hell!" Yosuke exclaimed. On screen a hideous monster—a mass of black ooze and arms wielding knives was surrounded by police cars and police officers, guns drawn. Above it, a police helicopter shined a spotlight on it.

"It has to be a Shadow!" Teddie said. "It appeared around midnight suddenly! This was why I was trying to wake you up!"

"Well why didn't you say so! You stupid bear!" Yosuke yelled. He could suddenly hear the police sirens outside.

"What are we going to do!" Chie asked. Yosuke grimaced.

"We can't sit here and do nothing—" He said, "But, if we try and fight that thing in front of the police… we'll raise a big stink around ourselves…"

Chie slammed her fist on her palm. "I got it!" She said, "Let's swing by my place on the way! Come on!"

And with that the three left.

[Meanwhile, at the famous Amagi Inn…]

"Please settle down everyone!" The girl in the pink kimono said, trying to calm the crowd of worried staff and inn visitors. She could scarcely be heard over the collective roar of the tumultuous crowd.

"I-it's no use…" She said softly to herself.

"Yukiko-Chan! It's no use! Everyone is fleeing the Inn!"

Yukiko tightened her fists.

"If only… If only _he_ were here…" She said to herself.

[At Chie's house…]

"Dah dah dah duhhh!" Chie sang as she took out the simple plastic masks. "I even have a cape!"

"Oooh! Oooh! I want the cape!" Teddie beamed.

"Uh! No way!" Chie replied, "The cape is MINE, duh."

"Normally I'd question why you have a closet full of super hero costumes but…" Yosuke trailed off, shaking his head.

"Err… w-well, what's important is, we can conceal our identities right?" Chie said, smiling sheepishly.

"Well… I guess this could work… Let's go!" Yosuke said. And with that the three took off once again, this time, for the Samegawa Flood Plain.

[Just outside the Samegawa Flood Plain…]

"Damn it! Just what the hell is this thing!" Dojima growled. He aimed his sidearm, a simple Nanbu handgun from behind his opened car door. All around him sirens wailed, gunshots rang out, and the voices of dozens of officers were calling out chaotically on the radio.

"D-Dojima-San! It's headed this way! Run!" A rookie police officer called to him.

"Idiot! There's nothing but houses that way! We can't let that thing pass!"

It was no use, the rookie officer fled.

"Shit-!" Dojima cursed as the mass of black ooze, arms, and knives made its way closer and closer.

Dojima pulled the trigger on his Nanbu over and over but the bullets did nothing but sink into the gooey mass.

_Click. Click. Click._

"Damn it!" Dojima cursed again. "I-I've gotta do something!" He got into his car, and turned on the engine. He was going to ram his car head long into the monster—he had to stop it, even if it meant risking his life.

The beast drew closer. Dojima could make out a faint "I" on the mask-like "face" of the creature.

"Th-this is it…" He said. "..Aw hell." He took another breath of his lit cigarette, and was about to floor it when suddenly, the monster was consumed in an emerald whirlwind. It roared in agony.

"What the hell is going on now!" Dojima exclaimed. He lowered his head to the dash just in time to spy a mysterious entity on the roof of the building next to him, with hair like roaring flames, surrounded in a spinning circular-saw like weapon. It disappeared above a masked boy who, along with two others was atop a roof.

The police helicopter flashed its searchlight over to the three masked crusaders.

"Who the hell are they! What was that!" An officer yelled over the radio.

"Never fear!" Announced one, caped 'hero', "The Fist of Burning Justice Hero is here! …With her two faithful sidekicks!" The hero flashed the peace sign.

"Hyah! It is I, El Bear-On Guapo!" A bear-looking costumed hero announced, spinning before striking a flashy pose.

"H-he's wearing the costume of the Junes mascot!" A confused onlooker called out.

"…Are you two serious…?" Yosuke said. "And what the hell do you mean, side kick!"

"Just go with it!" Chie chimed hastily through gritted teeth, trying to maintain her heroic smile.

Yosuke shook his head. "Whatever."

"Uhh.. It is I—Phoenix… Ninja Man… S…?" Yosuke said hesitantly and struck an awkward cheesy pose.

"D-did he say Phoenix Chicken man S!" An officer said.

"Prepare to be vanquished, evildoer!" Chie roared, then leapt from the roof, doing a front flip before landing in a dumpster.

"Idiot…" Yosuke said, facepalming himself.

Chie emerged from the dumpster.

"Taaaaake this! Hyah!" Chie struck another heroic pose, and was suddenly consumed in a cyclone of blue light. Above her appeared her Persona, Suzuka Gongen.

The goddess clad in samurai-esque armor twirled her dual-sided energy blade, before charging at the monster, landing multiple strikes.

The Shadow roared in pain.

"W-who are they! What are those things that are coming out of them!" An onlooker said.

"T-this is amazing!" The news reporter on scene said, "It seems these masked heroes have the ability to summon some sort of—spirit! They're gradually beating the creature back! I've never seen anything like this ladies and gentleman!"

Dojima's jaw dropped. The cigarette he held between his lips fell onto the dashboard. It sizzled and the car began to smell like melted plastic.

"Whatever they're doing, it seems to be hurting it!" Another onlooker said.

"It's Bear-on time!" Teddie yelled, leaping from the roof. He landed on his back.

"…Ah- w-wahhhhh! I'm stuckkkk!" Teddie wailed, his stubby arms and legs flailing as he rolled back and forth in place.

"Stupid bear…" Yosuke said as he climbed down the ladder and helped Teddie up.

"Ahem, thank you, Phoenix Chickenman!" The Bear-on said.

"It's Phoenix Ninja Man…" Yosuke said with a sigh.

"Take this, Shadow!" Teddie roared, and summoned his Persona, Kamui. Above him it appeared, sending a wall of powerful Ice hurdling towards the Shadow. The ice crawled up the Shadow's hulking black body, before shattering around him. A shower of ice shards fell around it and the surrounding area, glittering like falling sapphires in the light of the full moon.

With another pained roar, the Shadow fell, hunched over.

"Yeahhh!" An officer cheered. "Go, Heroes of Justice!"

"This is indescribable! The heroes have some sort of power over elements as well! Beautiful shards of sparkling ice are falling down all around us! Who are these masked heroes! What is this power!" The reporter continued, frantically trying to relay every detail of the scene back to the station and its viewers.

"Here we go!" Yosuke yelled, taking a fighting stance with his dual Kunai knives.

"This is our chance!" Teddie exclaimed.

"Kyaaaaaaah!" Chie roared, leading the charge. The three rushed the fallen Shadow, beating it to a pulp.

When the dust cleared, the Shadow fell and burst into millions of tiny black drops of ooze that dissipated into the night.

"We did it!" Teddie yelled.

"I-I can't believe it-!" The pilot of the police helicopter said on the radio. "Whoever these guys are—they really defeated that thing!"

The onlookers of the fight cheered.

"Ladies and gentleman!" The reporter cried, "Th-they somehow destroyed it! The monster has vanished into thin air!"

Dojima blinked hard. "N-no way…" He said to himself.

"All units!" The dispatcher on the radio called out, "Apprehend the three suspicious persons on scene!"

The police began to approach the three from all sides.

"Uh oh…Time for a heroic exit… Got any ideas, Chie!" Yosuke said, looking around. "We gotta disappear now, and fast!"

The police began to close in on the three.

"F-freeze!" An officer said.

"Aw, leave 'em alone!" An onlooker cried.

"Chie! Hello!" Yosuke yelled to the caped hero.

"I-I'm thinking!"

"Hey who let that car through!" A police officer cried abruptly.

Suddenly, down the street, a midnight black van barreled through the police barricade, and with a skid stopped just short between the three heroes and the police.

The back door opened.

"Get in! Hurry up!" A masked boy said.

"W-wha!"

"Come on come on!" Teddie yelled, and shoved the other two into the back of the van before leaping in himself.

"Stop them!" An officer yelled.

The van screeched as it sped away, bursting through the barricade on the opposite side.

"Yakushiji-San, a distraction please." The 'boy' said calmly.

"Wait a minute, you're—"

"Right away…' Blue-Wasp'" The masked man who was driving replied with a salute. He pressed a button on the van's console, and smoke shot out from behind the van, covering their escape.

"Blue… Wasp…?" Yosuke said.

The pursuing police cars screeched to a halt, their drivers completely blinded by the smoke.

Naoto turned to the three and took off the small black mask which hid her eyes. She smiled.

"My my. You three sure know how to make an entrance…" She said.

Yosuke took his mask off and slumped in his seat.

"Phew. You really saved our hides back there…"

"Ehehehe…" Chie laughed sheepishly. "Yeah… thanks Naoto-kun…"

"Still, we looked pretty awesome didn't we!" Teddie said, beaming as he struck another heroic pose. Naoto laughed.

"Yes, I admit you three looked magnificent…"

"Ever since she was a little girl", said Yakushiji, "Naoto-Sama dreamed to be a super hero. She was quite jealous when she saw you all on TV and demanded we join in your efforts right away—"

"Ah-! Yakushiji-San!" She smacked him.

"Ow! Hahaha!"

"In any case," Naoto said, "It seems we've lost them for now. Let's lay low at the Shirogane Estate for the time being."

Meanwhile, back at the scene of the fight against the mysterious Shadow, an onlooker watched. She loosened the grip on the gun she held concealed inside her jacket. Amidst the chaos of the scrambling officers and onlookers, she made her way to where the Shadow had fallen, and observed a peculiar, yet familiar key.

It was a golden skeleton key; the head of which ended in a spiral. She quietly pocketed the key.

"Hmm…." She said and slipped away into the night.

[Later, at the Shirogane Estate…]

"We're live at the scene where just moments ago three mysterious masked heroes, self named, 'The Fist of Burning Justice Hero', 'El Bear-On Guapo', and 'Phoenix Chickenman S' intervened when an unknown creature—"

"Ahh! It's Phoenix NINJA man! NINJA!" Yosuke yelled at the T.V.

"'It was amazing! They just came outta nowhere and beat that thing up," a random interviewee was saying excitedly, "and the caped chick was freakin' hot! I totally saw under her skirt when she was on the roof!' My, well, there you have it! Back to you at the station—" The reporter said, cutting the ecstatic teenage onlooker off.

"H-hot! He meant me!" Chie blushed. "WAIT, did he say he saw under my skirt!"

"This is Action News, with live coverage of the incident that occurred just moments ago in the town of Inaba. Last year, Inaba was also plagued by a series of bizarre murder cases—"

"Hmm. This is most severe." Naoto said. "This is the first time a Shadow has ever appeared outside of the other world…."

"Although, it is true that both the fog, and that entity, Izanami were able to come to this side", Naoto continued. She looked over at Teddie. "You as well. So I suppose it's only logical that a Shadow could make its way over." She paused, thinking hard. "But one of that magnitude…? And the public was made aware of it as well… There may be a panic..."

"There was no rain today… So it couldn't have anything to do with the Midnight Channel, could it?" Yosuke said.

"We defeated Izanami… ever since then, the Midnight Channel stopped appearing…" Chie said.

"Yeah! We beat that thing to a pulp! Rawr!" Teddie chimed in. He had removed his bear 'costume', and was now looking through Naoto's things on a shelf.

"Ughh." Chie sighed. "Maybe it doesn't even have anything to do with Izanami at all."

Naoto, Teddie, and Yosuke turned and stared at Chie. They were dead silent.

"W-what! What's with that look!"

"We need to enter the other world again as soon as possible." Naoto said. "All we can do is eliminate the variables and examine the consistencies that remain. If in fact there is nothing out of place in the other world, then it's completely plausible that the appearance of today's Shadow indeed has nothing to do with Izanami OR the Midnight Channel."

"Yeah." Yosuke said. "For now, let's rest up, and call the others tomorrow. Looks like the Special Investigation Team is at it again!"

"I think it would be unwise for you all to return home at this hour—" Naoto said. "If the police catch you out right now, you'll immediately be under suspicion. Best to stay the night, and leave during the day."

"So that means… WE'RE HAVING A SLEEPOVER!" Teddie beamed. He threw his arms around Naoto, squeezing her.

"I'm sleeping with Naoto-kun tonight!" Teddie yelled.

"Uh, no you're not!" Chie said, pushing Teddie aside. "You're sleeping with Yosuke. You can do more of that pervy stuff you guys were doing earlier."

Yosuke shot a glare at Chie.

"Pervy stuff…?" Naoto said.

[The next day, March 16th 2012, at the food court at Junes…]

"Why didn't you guys tell me you were going to go kick some ass!" Kanji roared as he stuffed grilled steak into his mouth.

"Man!" He said, "Nom, nom… You guysh were… nom nom… aweshome. Gulp. ….I want a cape too!"

"Ugh… Talk or eat, please choose one…" Yosuke said, grimacing.

"Uh, we did call you!" Chie said, "Like eight times! You sleep like a log. Seriously. Anyway, Yukiko is on her way here, Rise's still out shooting that movie… And Souji, well y'know…"

"We sure could use their help right now…" Naoto said, her arms crossed.

"It doesn't really feel right to have a meeting at our special headquarters without Sensei—" Said Teddie, frowning.

"Oh that's right—Who should be our leader now? Since Souji-kun is away…" Chie said, a hint of sadness in her usually cheery tone.

"I for one nominate myself," Yosuke said, placing a hand on his chest, "Seeing as how, I got my Persona right after he did, and well… it's been implied that I was always second in command anyway—" He nodded to himself with an air of self importance.

"True…" Chie said.

"I think I should be leader." Teddie said. "I was Sensei's main disciple. Aaaand I'm the most popular with the ladies.."

"Yeah right." Chie said.

"Ooh, Chie-chan, are you saying _I'm_ more popular with the ladies?" Yosuke said, grinning.

"Um, no? Neither of you are popular with _anyone_." Chie retorted.

Yosuke and Teddie hung their heads.

"Oh look! Senpai's here!" Kanji said, with a grain of rice stuck on his cheek.

"Hey… Sorry I'm late…" Yukiko sighed. "The Inn was a total mad house because of last night…"

"It's okay!" Chie said.

"Alright!" Yosuke said. "Looks like we're all here. I now hereby re-establish the Special Investigation Team!"

"Ooh, fancy…" Kanji said, watching wide-eyed as he stuffed another piece of steak into his mouth.

"Yukiko-chan…" Teddie said smoothly, "So uh, did you see Teddie's _bear-illiant_ heroic performance on t.v. last night? Hehehe."

"Huh…?"

Teddie sighed. "Never mind…"

"You didn't see?" Chie said. "It's been all over the news, duh!"

"Oh that! You mean the Shadow that you guys fought in Samegawa…" Yukiko said.

"Yep! The Fist of Burning Justice Hero totally cleaned house!" Chie bragged triumphantly.

Yosuke shushed her. "Idiot!" He said, "Announce it to the entire world why don't you!"

"Snrk—" Yukiko snickered. "Chie, your Persona is ice based, not fire based… and you use kicks, not punches. Your hero name doesn't make any sense… Hahahahaha!" She began another one of her trademark laughing fits.

"Here we go…" Chie said shaking her head.

"Um, back to the business at hand, please?" Naoto finally intervened. Everyone settled down and turned to look at her.

"Let's go over the facts we've ascertained thus far." She said. "One; a large Shadow appeared at around Midnight last night just outside the residential area of the Samegawa Flood Plain. Two; as Yosuke-Senpai pointed out earlier, there were no abnormalities in the weather; Three; as Chie-Senpai pointed out, the Midnight Channel has yet to reappear ever since we defeated Izanami one year ago. And four; we know that things like the Fog, deities like Izanami herself, and original residents of the other side such as Teddie can cross over from the other side to this side." She paused. "And, that about sums it up…"

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, so I guess the only thing we can do right now is check out the T.V. world and see if anything strange is going on there. …Besides being a world inside a T.V., I mean."

"Teddie," Naoto asked, "When _was_ the last time you were on the other side? Did you sense anything strange?"

"Eh? Well…" Teddie paused. "Well, it's true I _have_ been a busy bear lately. So I haven't checked on the other world since… last week."

"I see."

"Well, enough talkin' and let's get goin'!" Kanji said, finished with his meal.

"Yeah," Yosuke said, "Let's go!"

[Meanwhile, at the Inaba Police Station…]

"You sure have been hitting those files hard…" A rookie detective commented with a cup of coffee in hand. Dojima grabbed a tuft of his hair and sighed, closing his eyes.

"Maybe my instinct is wrong this time." He said.

"A creature like that," The rookie said, "Is really more of a scientist's forte, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Dojima grunted back. "You go ahead to lunch. I'm going to be awhile."

"Alrighty. See you."

The other detective left. Dojima pulled a file from under the one he was looking at and opened it up.

"Kirijo…?"

[Back at the entrance hall of the T.V. world…]

"Huh! Th-this can't be!" Teddie exclaimed, looking around.

"The Fog… It's returned…?" Yukiko said in disbelief. Teddie fell to his knees.

"I… I was supposed to protect this world…" He stammered, "But I was so caught up in having fun in your guys' world that I… I…"

"Teddie…" Chie said, placing a hand on Teddie's shoulder.

"This settles it." Yosuke said. "Ted… I need your help… can you sense if any new areas have appeared…?"

Teddie nodded solemnly. "I'll.. I'll try…" He tilted his head back, sniffing the air.

After a few moments, he reeled back, as if smelling something offensive.

"Ah-!"

"W-what is it?" Chie asked.

"This smells like… F-follow me…" Teddie said, and walked ahead of the group with his trademark waddle.

After making their way through the fog filled T.V. world, the group found themselves at the foot of a tall tower.

"What the!" Kanji exclaimed.

"What is this! It's huge!" Chie said, looking up at the structure.

It was a whimsical mass of seemingly different buildings forcefully fused together. The sight of it was daunting, awe-inspiring, and oppressive. Those who stood before it couldn't help but feel as if they were about to be sucked into the sky towards its top, which disappeared into the cloudy yellow sky of the T.V. world.

"It reeks of…Death…" Teddie said sadly.

"This is unlike any other structure we've explored here thus far!" Naoto said, gazing up at the seemingly never ending tower.

"It's faint but… I think I can sense someone else inside…" Teddie said.

"Someone else?" Yosuke asked. "Hm. Well whoever they are, they've got to have some answers. Let's go after him!"

"Right!"

"Let's go!"

And with that the group ran inside the mysterious tower, unsure of what lay ahead of them.


	2. Piece Deaux: Within the Hearts of Man

_**Piece Deaux – Within the Hearts of Man**_

Souji looked down at his phone.

"_We really could use your help right now! Miss you!_

_ -Chie"_

He frowned.

"—And some possible leads on the identities of the masked heroes from the Inaba incident three weeks ago, as well as theories as to what the creature that was defeated was, and where it came from have now surfaced—"

The now famous clip of a caped and masked Chie summoning her Persona to attack the Shadow in Samegawa replayed on the T.V. as the commentator talked. Souji dug his fingernails into his palm as his fist tightened.

"Back to Inaba!" His mother had said. "Whatever for? It's too much of a hassle. And besides. Your father and I might be getting transferred again anyway."

"Souji-Kun…? Hey, are you alright?" The girl with the feathery brown hair asked him. Souji blinked.

"…Yeah, sorry. It's just that whole Inaba incident…" He indicated towards the T.V. inside the dining hall.

"Oh right," She said, "I remember you saying you had family back there right?"

Souji nodded. The girl turned to look at the T.V. as well.

"—Therefore, various rumors have been circulating; from speculation that the mysterious creature is evidence of a, quote, 'Alien Takeover', to theories that the incident was nothing more than a clever and elaborate marketing campaign in use by the department and grocery store, Junes."

Shaky footage of the mysterious Shadow was being shown. It was brandishing the countless knives it wielded with its dozens of bony black arms.

The girl turned back around quickly and frowned, her gaze focused to the ground.

"You're not scared are you?" Souji joked. He was grinning.

"…I have to go." The girl said. "My class starts in a few minutes. Thank you for visiting me though!"

Souji watched quietly as she quickly gathered her things and left the table.

"B-bye." She said quickly and left.

"See you later, Takeba-San." Souji said. The girl stopped and turned around, flashing a warm smile.

"You can just call me Yukari." She said. Souji nodded.

He watched her go, then finished his meal and left as well.

[Meanwhile, somewhere in the mysterious Tower inside the T.V. World…]

"Hyah!" Yosuke exclaimed as he landed a few well-placed slashes on the enemy Shadow. It burst into black ooze which dissipated into the air.

"Phew." He said, wiping his brow.

"Yosuke!" Chie called down the hall. "I found the stairs, what do you want to do?"

"Let's keep going. We gotta get to the top as soon as possible!" He replied, and then followed after her.

"We're gradually catching up—" Teddie said, panting as he followed the rest of the group.

"The presence I sensed from before—it seems to be slowing down."

Naoto frowned. "I don't like this." She said. "It seems as if they're trying to let us catch up…"

"No time for hesitation!" Said Kanji. "We gotta keep going! Don't worry, I got your backs!"

Yosuke and the others nodded, and continued onward.

As they ascended the stairs and made their way through the labyrinth that was the next floor however, Teddie stopped suddenly, stunned.

"Th-this is!" He said.

Yosuke spun around. "What? What is it?"

"Sh-she knows we're here… she's waiting for us on the next floor! She's strong!" Teddie said. The others gasped.

"What do you mean, she knows we're here!" Chie exclaimed.

"She?" Kanji said.

"There's no time. I wanna finally meet this person we've been chasing this whole time." Yosuke said, punching his open hand determinedly.

"Hah! Now we're talking, Senpai!" Kanji said, nodding.

"I hope we can handle it…" Yukiko said softly. Chie placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hello? You've got the Fist of Burning Justice Hero with you!" Chie said, smiling. Yukiko nodded.

"Let's go!"

The group made their way up the stairs and stopped.

"There she is!" Yosuke exclaimed. Ahead of them a lone woman stood, facing away from them. She held a gun in her left hand which gleamed and shined uncannily.

"W-who are you!" Naoto asked. The woman said nothing. She turned around slowly, smiling and eyeing them with her piercing yellow eyes. She wore what seemed to be a cross between a vintage flight stewardess' uniform and an elevator attendant's uniform, and it was as blue as a field of the deepest azure hue of delphiniums in night time.

"Greetings." She said simply, pushing back a lock of golden blonde hair. She wore it in a short bob cut.

"So you are the ones who have been following me all this time I take it?" She asked. She placed a hand on her heart. "My name is Elizabeth."

She pointed the gun she had held in her left hand at the group.

"And you are…?"

Everyone tensed up.

"Why did the Shadow appear in our world!" Yosuke asked, "Why did the Fog come back!"

"Shadow…? Fog…?" Elizabeth said innocently, pouting her lips.

"I don't know anything about it I'm afraid…"

"What are you doing here?" Kanji asked, ready in his trade mark fighting stance.

"I'm… looking for someone…" Elizabeth replied, her smile fading. She looked away at the floor for a moment, then re-averted her gaze to the group.

"…You're not looking to get in my way, are you?" She said, her mischievous smile returning. She cocked the pistol.

"W-wait a second!" Yukiko said, "There's no need to fight, is there?"

Kanji stepped forward. "Heh. She started it!"

"…And we'll finish it!" Yosuke said, readying his Kunai knives.

"Hyaaaaaaah!" Kanji roared, running forward as he cocked back the steel riot shield he held as his weapon. Yosuke followed, twirling a Kunai knife on his finger as he went.

Elizabeth smirked. She placed the gun to her temple.

"I'll summon it this way, if it'll bring me closer to you." She said softly.

"H-huh! What the hell are you doing!" Kanji exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks.

"W-wait! Don't do it!" Naoto cried.

Elizabeth pulled the trigger with a smile, and with a bang, a familiar blue whirlwind of energy enveloped the mysterious girl, and above her the fiery magician, the Persona Surt appeared.

"A-a Persona! No way!" Yosuke exclaimed, looking up at the demon in awe. Surt rushed forward, and with a swing of his flaming sword sent a wave of countless lightning-quick slashes at the two dumbfounded boys.

"Aughhhh!" Yosuke screamed as he flew backwards and landed on his back with a thud. His Kunai knives clattered to the floor. Kanji blocked the first wave with his riot shield, but the force of attack knocked the shield from his hands. He turned to look at Yosuke, incapacitated on the ground, and then back at Elizabeth. His eyes widened.

She smirked at him, her piercing golden-yellow eyes seeing through his tough-punk façade.

"Go Surt." Elizabeth said simply, and the magician-demon held his sword to the sky, sending a rain of hellish fire down towards Kanji.

"KANJI-KUN!" Naoto cried, and deftly took a Magic Mirror from her bag and threw it over Kanji, just barely making it in time to intercept the attack.

The wall of fire was repelled, and sent back toward Elizabeth.

"Ugh.." She grunted as she shielded herself with her arms to withstand the attack. When the attack subsided, she scowled at Naoto.

"That's not fighting fair—" She said. She called back Surt, and placed the gun again to her temple, this time calling forth Pixie.

"This is what happens when you don't fight fair!" She exclaimed.

Pixie called forth a triplet of shining, glowing orbs that came down from the ceiling. It descended silently on the group.

"Everyone! Brace yourselves!" Teddie cried, before the entire room was consumed in light.

As the wall of destructive energy from the explosion drew closer to Yukiko, her eyes widened.

"A-am I going to die…?" She thought to herself. The light consumed her. She closed her eyes.

"Souji-Kun.. help us…"

Suddenly the light dissipated, and the group was left unharmed.

"H-huh!" Yukiko said, opening her eyes.

"D-did we die..?" Chie asked, opening one eye cautiously.

Elizabeth looked up, as if hearing someone speak.

"…I see." She said, after listening for awhile. "Then I'll spare them." She turned to the group.

"How fortunate for you! Providence has favored you on this day." She smiled, and turned to leave, then stopped.

"But if you are going to be players in His scheme, you'll need to hone your skills. This just won't do. Until then… Farewell."

She walked away.

"D-damn you…" Kanji said, on one knee. "Who are you…?"

"L-let's fall back for now.." Naoto said, her voice shaking.

"But.. why didn't she finish us off…?" Yosuke asked, holding his side as he struggled to his feet. "Ugh—damn that hurt…"

"I'll get us out of here pronto!" Teddie said. "Traesto!"

Having had the near brush with death, as well as new clues and of course, more questions, the Special Investigation Team decided to call it a day, resolving to meet at the Junes Food Court after school the next day to discuss what had just transpired.

[The Next Day, May 14th 2012]

The door to the dorm creaked open, then shut.

The blonde haired girl with the deep blue eyes as clear as her resolution to her purpose looked up, then went back to her studying.

"Welcome back." She said. "How was it?"

The girl who had just entered the dorm hung her overcoat on the coat rack and sighed. She tossed back her thick, wavy crimson hair.

"Nothing's come up." She said. "However, that can easily change. Tomorrow night is…"

"I know." The other girl who was studying at her desk replied.

"Will we confront them?"

"There's another thing…" The red-head said, her husky, sultry voice carried an air of weight to it.

"_His_ Evoker. It's missing."

The blue-eyed girl shut her book and stood up promptly. She kept her piercing blue stare at her books however.

"Who else knows…?" She asked.

"No one." The other answered.

"Are you planning on telling…?"

"I… I don't think Yukari should know yet…"

[Meanwhile, on the campus of Okina University..]

"You again…?" Yukari said with a raised eyebrow. She was smiling. "This is a long way from Gekkou high isn't it?"

Souji grinned sheepishly.

"I…" He paused for a moment, choosing the right words. "I know. I wouldn't come all this way if I didn't have a good reason." He said coolly.

Yukari looked at the younger boy skeptically once again. "Oh?" She said, deciding to bite, "And what reason is that?" She casually picked up her books.

"To see you."

Yukari looked up suddenly, taken by surprise by the high school junior's frankness. She laughed it off, but Souji could tell by the way she looked at him that he had gotten to her with the remark.

He was used to spotting the signs. When a girl looks at a boy who piques her interest, her eyes change in the most miniscule way; her pupils dilate just a _bit _and her stare lasts for just a _moment_ longer, as if to feed on and take in everything about the boy she's looking at.

Only boys with as much experience breaking girls' hearts such as he could notice such a tiny detail.

Souji smirked.

"Yuka-Chan!" Someone from behind them called. She turned around.

"Oh crap…" She said to herself quietly. Her fellow Okina U student and his friends walked up to them.

"Yuka-Chan, hey girl… What's up?" He said, grinning. Yukari flashed a polite smile.

"Hey Kimihiro-San. Just about to head home. Why?" Right as she said that however, she instantly knew she had made a mistake- she had left an opening for the obnoxious admirer to continue the conversation.

"What a coincidence!" He said. "So 'm I. Lemme walk you, yeah? We can do karaoke on the way!"

Yukari laughed half heartedly. "No thanks. Midterms are coming up… I should really get going.."

"Oh come on! Quit bein' so uptight." He took hold of her arm.

"No really, it's fine.." Yukari replied, pulling away.

"Alright, alright…" Kimihiro said, letting her go. "I'll see you later then.."

"Yeah.. See you." Yukari turned to leave.

"Oh, don't I get a hug goodbye?" He said, smirking. His friends snickered.

"Umm… No, definitely not, sorry." Yukari said harshly and turned again to leave. Souji tried his best to conceal his smirk. The obnoxious student's friends laughed heartily, effectively embarrassing Kimihiro.

He scowled.

"You got something on your skirt there—" He said, running his hand over the surface of Yukari's short, pleated skirt. He cupped her butt, feeling the soft firmness of her curves before pretending to flick away a piece of lint.

"Oops, there. Got it." He said smugly. His friends were in an uproar.

Yukari wheeled around, dropping her books, and landed a solid open-handed smack across Kimihiro's face, effectively wiping the smile of his face. He scowled again, taking firm hold of her small wrist.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" He said. Souji glared at him, stepping forward.

"Hahaha! Who is this little prick? Your boyfriend? I had no idea you were such a cradle stealer, Yuka-Chan!"

"Let go of me you creep!" Yukari exclaimed.

"Hey you stupid little kid—", One of Kimihiro's rowdy friends stepped forward.

"Adults are trying to speak here, so—UMPH!"

Souji threw a hard right hook, putting his shoulder into the punch to add more torque. His fist landed solidly on the college student's jaw, spinning as it impacted his pokey, unshaven cheek, to tear the skin and add extra damage to the punch. He sat down, stunned.

"OH FUCK NO!"

Another one of the goons threw a wild haymaker Souji's way. He deftly ducked under it, spinning around as he caught the older teen's wrist and twisted his arm backwards behind him in one fluid motion.

"This arm," Souji said in a low, calm voice, "This arm belongs to me now."

"Fuck you!" He said, his voice strained.

"Oh?" Souji said, then pushed the older teen's arm forward, nearly breaking it.

"ARGH! FUCKER!"

"Get off of him!" Another one of the hooligan's friends cried, rushing Souji from behind. Souji spun the man whom he held captive by one twisted arm around, using him as a human shield against the attacker's wild punch, and threw a hard side kick to the assailant's nose. He stopped dead in his tracks, and fell like a downed Redwood tree to the floor. His nose burst with blood. Still holding the first student by his arm, he placed a hard kick behind his hostage's left knee cap and stepped down hard on his calf, forcing him to his knees. With one hard straight punch to the back of the head, he laid his hostage out.

"S-Souji-Kun!" Yukari exclaimed. Souji stood over the three knocked out students, still holding up the one clenched fist he used to lay out the last hooligan, then turned his glare to Kimihiro.

He let go of Yukari.

"Ch-chill the fuck out bro!" He exclaimed, trying to maintain his macho façade.

"I-I was just playing around but you had to take it all far and shit—" Kimihiro said, and promptly walked away.

"FUCK!" He exclaimed as he went, smacking the books out of the hands of a random onlooker in a fit of rage.

"Souji-Kun…" Yukari said, blushing as she looked at the high school student.

He was looking down with contempt at the defeated college students, and then finally looked over to Yukari.

"Yukari-Chan are you—OW!"

Souji was hit with a hard slap across his cheek.

"Idiot! Are you trying to die? Who do you think you are!" She grabbed her books and stormed off.

"Stupid boys! Why do they always think they have to act tough and protect the girl! Ugh!"

Souji rubbed his cheek, grinning as he watched Yukari stomp off. Her round butt rolled cutely in her pleated skirt as she went.

The hot, dizzying swell of anger a man inevitably experiences when he is ready to throw hands subsided, and he headed back home, wondering if he should've taken it a bit easier.

"Good thing I equipped a Chariot Persona today.." He said to himself with a shrug.

[Meanwhile, back in Inaba…]

"Yeah, see you later!" Yukiko said, waving goodbye, and left with Chie. The rest of the Investigation Team left one by one, until Naoto and Kanji were left.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school, Kanji-Kun." Naoto said. Kanji offered an awkward salute-wave.

"Uh.. yeah. See you…" He said, looking away. Naoto turned to leave when suddenly Kanji stopped her.

"N-naoto-kun…" said Kanji hesitantly. She stopped.

"Something the matter?"

Kanji scratched his head.

"I uh.. it's just.. well… I just wanted to say… thanks for saving me back there. So yeah. Thanks."

Naoto looked over at Kanji, who was flushed red. She smiled sweetly.

"You're welcome…But your thanks are unnecessary. I'm just relieved you're okay." She nodded.

"Heh..Yeah… But uh.." Kanji looked away again. He gathered up his voice.

"…Don't ever risk your life for me again. Got it?" He looked into Naoto's eyes. She blinked, then raised an eyebrow.

"…Are you feeling okay Kanji-Kun? You should go home and get some rest.."

Kanji laughed, scratching his head and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. See ya tomorrow!"

And with that, he ran off towards Tatsumi Textiles. Naoto watched him leave, then shook her head, smiling.

"Idiot... Of course I'll look after you."

She turned and headed towards home.


	3. Piece Trois: The Priestess

_**Piece Trois – The Priestess**_

[The next day, May 15th 2012…]

Her world was covered in Fog.

Silver curls fell over the woman's fair, pale face. She sat slumped against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. She opened her eyes, deep, blood red pools of cherry juice. She smirked.

"Thanatos, Thanatos…" She sang softly to herself. "Will you come out again today?"

* * *

The angelic girl with the deep blue eyes sat at her desk at the girls' dorm at Okina University. She rested her small chin on her fist and sighed.

"It's no use." She said to herself. "I can't focus."

She closed her eyes.

"Why?" She thought to herself. "Why _his_ Evoker? Why now?"

She looked at her outstretched palm. She wiggled her fingers, and pushed down on the soft fleshy hand with her finger.

"This is what I wanted…" She said to herself, nodding. "I found my Answer."

The door to the dorm creaked open.

"I'm home!" A girl called out. "Come on in!" She said, motioning at the boy who stood in the doorway. It was Souji.

"Welcome home Yukari-chan." The angelic girl said. Her piercing blue eyes turned to Souji.

"Aigis! Hey!" Yukari greeted, putting up her jacket. "Um, this is my friend, Souji-Kun."

"Hello." Souji said.

"Hi." Aigis stared for a moment.

"Souji-Kun, this is Aigis. She's been a friend of mine since high school."

"Anyway," Yukari said, "I'm sorta paying him back for something I did yesterday, so I'm helping him study for his midterms."

Aigis nodded, finally breaking her intense gaze.

"I see."

"Where's Mitsuru-Senpai?" Yukari asked. Aigis looked away.

"She said she had something to take care of. She'll be back later tonight. Or maybe tomorrow."

And with that she left the room to return to her studies.

"Go ahead and put your books over there! I'll get the ramen ready." Yukari said, and headed to the kitchen.

* * *

The Investigation Team reconvened at the 'Special Headquarters' once again.

"Okay. Is everyone here? Well, besides Rise-Chan and Souji, I mean." Said Yosuke. Everyone nodded.

"Oh, right!" Yukiko piped up suddenly. "I got a call from Rise-Chan's agency. She'll be visiting Inaba tomorrow. They're shooting here and are going to be staying at my Inn! Er, not that I was supposed to say anything…" She blushed.

"Ah! Rise-Chan!" Teddie beamed.

"We could really use her support." Naoto said, nodding.

"Especially for what we're up against now…" Yosuke said. "That damn Elizabeth.. And those Shadows too."

Chie furrowed her brows, thinking hard.

"But.. are we really _against_ that Elizabeth lady…? I mean, technically we weren't getting in her way. And she didn't know anything about the Fog or the Shadows…"

"Eh..? That's true but…" Yosuke said, trailing off.

"There were a few other things about her that bothered me." Naoto said.

"Did anyone notice something peculiar about her ability to summon Personae?" She asked.

Kanji's eyes lit up.

"You mean how she can summon more than one?"

Naoto nodded approvingly. "Precisely. Only one other person we know of in the entire world can do the same thing."

"Senpai…" Kanji finished.

"I always knew Sensei was special!" Teddie chimed in. He nodded to himself.

"In addition, something she said also threw me off… 'If you want to be players in _His_ scheme, you need to hone your skills.'" Naoto said. "What does that mean…? And who is she referring to…? Then the manner in which she summons her Persona…"

"It _was_ pretty disturbing…" Yosuke added.

"Yeah…", Chie said, "Anyway, it doesn't seem like she saw us as enemies. I mean, when she had the chance to wipe us out, she stopped…"

"Or…" Yukiko said, "Something else intervened…"

The group turned to look at her.

"Something intervened? What do you mean, Yukiko-San?" Yosuke asked. Yukiko looked away at the ground.

"I-I don't know.. It just felt like… someone saved us back there." She twiddled her thumbs. "You see.. when umm.. we were about to be hit, I thought to myself, 'Save us, Souji-Kun' and well…It's just a feeling I had…Probably nothing…" She laughed nervously.

Chie looked over at Yukiko, wide eyed. "Y-Yukiko…"

"That's possible too…" Naoto said.

"Come to think of it, didn't it seem like she was talking to some imaginary person or something?" Chie asked.

"Yeah...I can't remember what she was saying though… Oh, that's right!" Yosuke said, reaching into his jacket.

"I got this weird letter in my shoe box this morning at school." He took out a simple envelope.

"A love letter?" Teddie exclaimed.

"It's addressed to me, but with no sender…"

The group fell silent as he took the letter out.

"It's a bunch of numbers, then a time—12 am. Midnight." He said.

"Allow me." Naoto said, taking the letter. She looked over it and nodded.

"These.. these are coordinates. Longitude and latitude… It's.. the shopping district?"

"The hell!" Kanji exclaimed. An oppressive tenseness filled the air around the Investigation Team.

"What does it mean?" Yosuke asked, "Is it another Shadow? Is it going to attack the Shopping District now?"

"Damn it—" Kanji cursed. "My place is…"

"Don't worry Kanji-Kun." Chie said. "We'll take that Shadow down before it even knows what it hit it. Right everyone!"

The rest of the group nodded solemnly.

"Let's prepare," Naoto said, "then meet up at my estate 30 minutes prior to midnight. Most likely we'll need our disguises again as we'll be operating in public."

"Right!"

* * *

Elizabeth walked the halls of the dark tower, the footsteps of her blue high heels echoing. Then the footsteps stopped.

"Hm?" Elizabeth said, spying a huddled body, shaking on the floor in front of her.

"W-where am I…?" He asked.

"Where else?" Said Elizabeth, "Inside Tartarus of course."

The man looked up, his long gray locks of hair falling erratically over his face and shoulders.

"Tartarus!" He exclaimed. His eyes widened, betraying his madness.

"SEES-! I-I have to kill…" He was panting.

Elizabeth smiled mischievously. She knelt down beside him.

"Your friends are dead." Elizabeth said, pouting. "You're all alone…"

"Jin…? Chidori…?"

"So you'll need to find some new ones, yes?" Elizabeth nodded, smiling.

"Yes… new.. followers.."

Elizabeth leaned in close, and whispered in the man's ear.

"…Okay?" She said, then stood up. "Now go. Ready the world for the Second Coming."

She snapped her fingers, and the man disappeared. She sighed.

"Another chess piece for you I presume…?"

* * *

Yosuke looked around at everyone inside Naoto's private study.

"Right. Everyone's here." Yosuke said, nodding.

"Hmm…" Naoto said, frowning. "There's a lot of us… this is really supposed to be a clandestine operation."

"Clam's time? Huh? What's that?" Kanji asked. Naoto shook her head.

"Clandestine. Meaning secret. But if we all move in such a large group like this, we'll be easy to notice."

"Hm? Are you saying we should split into groups, Naoto-kun?" Chie asked.

Naoto nodded. She turned to Yosuke.

"I'll leave it to you, but we should hurry. One team should be in charge of assaulting the Shadow, while the other secures the area." She said.

"Alright. Well…Luckily I was thinking the same thing, so I came up with a little plan!" Yosuke said.

"Wow, Yosuke-Kun! Awesome!" Said Teddie.

"Alright." He began, "Naoto, and Ted, you guys support us from inside the van, which we'll park in a spot where it'll be hard to notice. You guys are in charge of our getaway! Kanji, Chie, Yukiko and I will be on the assault team."

"I'm impressed, Yosuke-Senpai." Naoto said.

"Ah, excuse me, Naoto-Sama." It was Yakushiji. "I have the equipment you requested."

He placed a box on the table in front of them.

"Sweet! We get super hero gadgets!" Chie beamed.

Naoto took the devices out from the box and passed them out to everyone.

"Each of you will have a communicator so that we can keep in constant contact with each other." She said.

"Alright! Let's get going!" Kanji said.

"Ah ah ah!" Chie said, waving her finger. "You and Yukiko are going to need costumes too!"

"H-huh! Me?" Yukiko said.

"I've got just the things!" Chie beamed, and took out two pairs of costumes on hangars. She grinned.

"You want me to wear _that!_?" Yukiko exclaimed, stepping back. The ridiculous costume was something like a cross between a spandex leotard and a dominatrix outfit.

Chie laughed sheepishly. "Well.. This one is kinda old.. so it might be a size too small.. but! It's not like Kanji would be able to wear it so…"

"Ugh …" Yukiko sighed.

Yosuke elbowed Teddie. "Man oh man, Chie really came through for us this time… Ehehehe…"

Yukiko turned and promptly smacked Yosuke across the face.

"Oof!"

"Oops. I didn't mean to hit so hard…" She said, and turned back to Chie.

"Umm… Can't I just wear the mask…?" She asked.

"Fineee…" Said Chie. She looked to Kanji.

"How about you, Kanji-kun? Do you think you'd look good in it?" Chie grinned. Kanji turned beet red.

"Wha-! I'd rather die a thousand painful deaths than be caught wearin' that!"

"Umm… I think we should get going now…" Naoto said.

* * *

The engine of a lone motorcycle rumbled as it came to a stop in an alleyway. The helmeted rider cut the engine and kicked down the stand. She dismounted the bike, kicking over it with a long, slender leg clad in thick high heeled boots. She removed her helmet and flipped her wavy crimson hair.

"The anonymous tip said it would be around here somewhere." She said. She activated the communicator placed on her ear.

"Aigis." She said, "This is Mitsuru. I'm here."

"Roger that." Aigis said. "What's the situation?"

"Things are quiet right now, but given the time and the location that may change at any moment…" Mitsuru then smiled. "How's Yukari and our guest?"

Back at the dorm, Aigis peeked outside her door.

Yukari and Souji were leaning in close as Souji explained a complex physics concept to Yukari.

"Totally infatuated with each other, of course…" Aigis said. Mitsuru grinned, detecting the hint of resentment in the younger girl's voice which she had rarely ever seen before.

"Is someone jealous…? I'm surprised. That's not like you, Aigis-Chan."

"…Keep your mind on the mission!" Aigis said with a blush. Mitsuru looked down at her wristwatch.

"Here we go… three, two, one… Midnight." She looked up.

"Huh!"

Suddenly an eerie fog began to blanket the area.

"What is it? Report your status!" Aigis said over the radio.

"It's—some kind of strange fog…" Mitsuru replied. "I can't see anything… Wait, what's that noise!"

A strange demonic laugh echoed through the fog. Mitsuru peered into it, and to her horror glowing red eyes appeared. The shadow resembled a giant woman, with long, sable tresses of hair jutting out from her head, each writhing and twitching as if they had a mind of their own.

"It's here! The shadow! It's definitely the Priestess Arcana Shadow from three years ago! I'm going to engage!"

She took out her Evoker and put it to her head.

"Damn! There it is! Just like the letter said!" A boy's voice called out.

"Huh?" Mitsuru said. She hid behind a pile of boxes in the alleyway.

"There's someone else here…" Mitsuru whispered into her communicator quietly.

"Who?" Aigis asked. "Is it the ones from before!"

"It's highly probable—I'll keep observing for now…"

"Okay everyone!" Yosuke exclaimed. "Time for battle! Let's take this one out quick!"

"Alright! It's time to kick some ass!" A masked Kanji said, rushing the Priestess shadow with his riot shield.

"Taaaake this!"

Suddenly one of the Priestess' shadow's long ebony locks of hair extended out, striking out at Kanji.

"Eh!" Kanji hid behind his shield in time to block the attack. "Tch-Damn you!"

"Let's go! Suzuka Gongen!" Chie cried, summoning her Persona. The armored goddess slashed out at the Priestess Shadow, but it countered with another slash of its tentacle like hairs, taking firm hold of the twin bladed slash.

"Huh? Oh no!" Chie cried out.

"Hyaah!" Yosuke cried cutting apart the tentacle-hair with his kunai knife with a leap.

The shadow roared, flinching back, then sent a wave of fire back at Yosuke.

"Amaterasu!" Yukiko cried out, summoning her Persona. It threw itself in the middle of the fire attack, shrugging it off.

"Thanks, Yukiko-San!" Yosuke said.

"You're wide open, Shadow!" Kanji exclaimed, and summoned his Persona, Rokuten Maoh.

The large, imposing fire-red demon slashed down hard with his great sword, landing a solid hit on the Shadow. It roared in pain.

"Heh! Got you!" Kanji grinned.

Suddenly the Priestess Shadow began to chant.

"Huh! What's it doing!" Chie exclaimed.

"Everyone!" It was Teddie's voice echoing throughout the team's communicators. "It's summoning more Shadows to the fight! Watch out!"

"Damn!" Yosuke cursed. He leapt backwards in time to dodge an attack from one of the Priestess' lesser shadows, and countered with a spinning slash from a kunai knife.

"We should finish them quickly!" Yukiko said, as she summoned Amaterasu to wipe out a wave of lesser shadows with a Maragidyne attack.

From inside the van, Naoto could hear sirens approaching.

"This is bad!" She said. "The police are coming. We need to limit the amount of civilian casualties!"

"What's going on…?" A sleepy bystander asked, as she slid open the door to her house.

"Huh! It's a monster!" She screamed.

"Yuh-oh.." Kanji said. "We're attracting attention.."

"No time to worry about that!" Yosuke exclaimed, "It's doing something!"

The Priestess Shadow held up its hand, charging up a ball of energy.

"Let's go, Susano-o!" Yosuke exclaimed as his Persona appeared and casted Masukukaja on the team.

Instantly they felt lighter, and dodged the phalanx-esque rain of lightening quick pierce attacks from the Priestess Shadow's tentacle-hair.

After dodging its attacks, the team regrouped; however, the Priestess Shadow cocked back her arm, preparing to throw the glowing ball of destructive energy charged up in her hand.

"Damn it!" Yosuke exclaimed. "We can't let it hit any of the buildings! What do we do!"

"Heh. Leave it to me!" Kanji said, and rushed forward suddenly.

"Eh! Kanji-Kun!" Yukiko called after him.

"Crap! Cover him!" Yosuke exclaimed as he rushed in after Kanji, hurling his Kunai knives at the incoming tentacle-hair jutting forward from the Priestess Shadow at Kanji. The hairs were sliced off, causing the Shadow to roar in agony.

"I got you, Kanji-Kun!" Chie exclaimed, summoning her Persona. Suzuka Gongen rushed forward in front of Kanji, twirling her twin bladed naginata and repelling even more attacks from the Priestess Shadow.

"Alright! Here we go! Go! Rokuten Maoh!" Kanji exclaimed once he got close enough. A single blue card descended above Kanji silently, which Kanji crushed with his Riot Shield.

"Hyah!"

The gigantic, hulking demon reappeared, grabbing hold of the Priestess Shadow's hand. It roared in pain as multiple razor sharp tentacle hairs pierced his broad chest, but nonetheless maintained its hold on the Shadow.

Kanji cried out in pain, falling to one knee.

"Argh! Come on, dammit!" He cried out.

With a roar, Rokuten Maoh pulled hard on the Priestess' arm, tearing off its arm. The ball of energy fell to the ground, exploding on impact and sending illuminating the once sleepy Shopping District. It left a huge crater about 20 feet across in the middle of the street.

The fog cleared, and stumbling backward was the Shadow, with one less arm.

"Let's end it!" Yosuke exclaimed, and summoned Susano-O once again. It hurled its razor sharp circular saw at the weakened Shadow.

"Amaterasu!" Yukiko exclaimed, summoning her Persona. It hurled a ball of fire at the spinning saw, setting it ablaze. The flaming circular saw tore through the Priestess Shadow, rending it in two. With a cry it collapsed in a heap on the floor, bursting into black ooze that evaporated into the cool night air.

"You did it!" Chie exclaimed.

"Enemy Shadow confirmed destroyed! Good job, everyone!" Naoto said.

"Heh…" Kanji grinned, then fell to the ground.

"Kanji!" Yukiko cried. Yosuke ran to his side, holding him in his arms.

"My bad, Sempai.." Kanji said. He coughed up blood.

"I-idiot!" Yosuke cried, "Why the hell did you have to be so reckless!"

"Hey..everyone's coming!" Chie exclaimed.

"You guys get out of here! I'll stay with Kanji."

"But then.. the Police will…"

"It's fine! Hurry up and get out of here!"

Chie gritted her teeth, then nodded. "Let's go, Yukiko!"

"Hm…?" Yukiko picked up a golden key from where the Priestess Shadow fell.

"Yukiko!"

"Right!"

And with that, the two disappeared into the night, rendezvousing with Naoto and Teddie back at the parked van, and returned to the Shirogane estate.

Meanwhile, the Police closed in on Yosuke and Kanji, and took them to the Inaba Municipal Hospital.

* * *

"H-huh!" Yukari awoke with a start. She put a hand on her forehead, and yawned.

"What time is it…?" She asked sleepily, looking at her watch. "It's that late!"

"Souji-Kun went home an hour ago." Aigis said from behind her. "He said to tell you, 'thanks'."

"Oh… I see… He didn't seem to need much help with his homework really… So I guess I just nodded off while he worked. How lame of me.." Yukari said.

"Huh..?" She looked down at herself. She was wrapped in a fleece blanket.

"…You're welcome!" Aigis said cheerfully with a wink. She returned to her room and closed the door.

Yukari smiled, shaking her head.

"Oh, Aigis…"

* * *

"You—you morons!" Dojima yelled, "Ugh… You all could have been killed!"

Yosuke looked down at his knees.

"But.. we're the only ones with the power to stop those Shadows…" He said. "Still.. I'm sorry for worrying you…" He bowed apologetically.

"A world in the TV… Persona… now it all makes sense." Dojima said softly as he paced back and forth. He sighed. He looked very tired.

"Well, Kanji-Kun is going to be perfectly fine." Said Dojima. "He should be out in a day or two."

Yosuke gave a sigh of relief. "That's great!" He said.

"As for you though!" Dojima said sternly. Yosuke flinched backward in his chair.

"…I've contacted your parents."

Yosuke groaned.

"…You were volunteering as an intern at the station. Got it!"

"H-huh!"

Dojima smirked. "Did I stutter?"

"Y-yeah! No problem, Dojima-San!"

"Good. Off you go."

Dojima unlocked the door and opened it. "You are going to tell me EVERYTHING you know about these things from now on, you hear?"

Yosuke nodded. "Y-yes sir…"

"And hey…" Dojima added, "You guys be careful, alright? I might not know as much as you guys when it comes to what's going on right now, but.." He paused, scratching his head. "Well give me a call anytime if you need anything. "

Yosuke nodded. "..Yeah. Thank you again, Dojima-San."

He left.

"Crazy goddamn kids." Dojima said to himself, shaking his head. He lit up a cigarette, taking an inhale of the slightly harsh smoke and sighed.


	4. Piece Quatre: SEES

_**Piece Quatre – The Specialized, Extra Curricular, Execution Squad**_

[The next day, May 16th 2012, in a jail cafeteria.]

"Cabbage soup! Oh man! It's gotta be my lucky day! Hahaha!" Adachi laughed as he stepped up to the window with his tray. The scruffy inmate with his afro in a hairnet put the bowl of the strange smelling soup on his tray.

"Thanks!"

The inmate grunted.

"Man, I cannot WAIT to dig in.. Oof!" Adachi turned directly into another inmate, slamming his tray into him and spilling the soup all over his bright orange jumpsuit.

"M-my soup…" Adachi groaned. He looked up. The inmate whom he bumped into towered over him, scowling.

"S-sorry…" Adachi said with a nervous smile.

The inmate cocked his arm back.

"Here we go again…" Adachi said to himself.

_I don't feel like killing this guy today.. Solitary will be even more boring than general population is…_

The inmate threw a hard right punch. Adachi allowed the punch to hit, sending him reeling backwards onto the floor.

"Stupid bitch. You're lucky I don't cut you for that…" The inmate said. He walked away as a guard approached.

"This place… Is just so boring…" Adachi said listlessly as he laid on the cold, unforgiving ground of the prison cafeteria.

* * *

"Well, that's all for today I suppose.." The teacher said. The classroom was filled with a dull roar as the students chattered.

"Dude, I told you man. 2012. World's ending!" A rumor loving student said.

"Ugh, are you kidding me? I told you. Weeniepedia said it's all a big Junes publicity stunt." His friend replied.

"Oh really! Well you could always ask 'you know who' (he indicated towards Yosuke) if it's true. Besides, the Junes bear wasn't even seen at the last big fight—"

Yosuke shook his head.

"Sometimes I think people _want_ the world to end…" He said to Chie. Chie didn't seem to hear him.

"Hey.. wasn't there supposed to be an assembly today?" She asked. Yosuke shrugged.

"I dunno. Man, I'm beat. These last couple of weeks have been pretty unforgiving…Not to mention I've been Dojima-San's personal slave lately…" He said and yawned.

"I wonder what it's going to be about?" Chie said.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the assembly. Head to the auditorium. And please be quiet in the halls? Please? Is anyone even listening…?" The teacher said as the students shuffled out of the classroom, oblivious to what he was saying.

When the students arrived inside the auditorium, the lights were off, and the stage was dark, and covered with a curtain.

"Whoa. What's with this set up?" Yosuke said.

"Yeah. Sheesh. It's almost creepy." Chie said, looking around. The students seemed extra chatty, the way crowds of teenagers always seem to be in a dark room.

"Hey, senpai!"

Yosuke turned around. "Kanji! What are you doing here?"

Kanji laughed. He had a bandage on his right cheek. "Hehe. I was raisin' hell y'know. So they let me out early." He scratched his head, grinning.

"Figures." Chie said with a smile.

"Good to have you back, Kanji." Said Yosuke.

"Ladies and gentleman!" A voice on the PA announced, "Please take your seats! The show is about to begin!"

"Eh? Show?" Yosuke said. "Oh crap, is this another one of those cheesy non-smoking PSA's!"

"Hey! Those are pretty funny!" Chie protested. "Remember that song! 'Don't kiss Butts'?"

She began to sing. "Don't kiss Butts! Don't kiss Butts! Cigarettes are bad so don't kiss butts!"

"Ughh…" Yosuke groaned.

The chatter settled down as the students took their seats in the very uncomfortable metal folding chairs.

"Kanji, we're bustin' outta here—" Yosuke whispered to Kanji. He nodded.

"Here's the plan—"

"Helloooooo everyoneee!" A girl announced from behind the curtain. Her voice was melodic and sing-songy.

"I missed you all ohhh soo much…"

Suddenly, fog from a fog machine off-stage spewed from behind the curtain, and all manner of lights and glowing lasers shot through the darkness.

"Whoaaa..." Kanji said.

The curtains slowly pulled back to reveal the dark silhouette of a girl on the stage. She had a mic headset, and wore a pop-fashion version of a school uniform. Needless to say, the teachers (particularly the female ones) disapproved of the suggestive direction the girl had gone with the uniform, short skirt, ripped stockings and all.

She struck a dramatic pose with one hand covering her eyes, the other placed on her chest. The tight blouse of her school uniform was partially unbuttoned at the top, revealing the top of her black lace bra. The cotton cardigan clung loosely to her arms, revealing her shoulders.

An upbeat, electronic pop beat began to play, and the girl began to dance. The students cheered.

She swayed her hips, and blew kisses to the audience with a wink as her auburn hair bounced about. A pink spotlight shined down on her, and she began to sing:

_I face out; I hold out;_

_I reach out to the truth of my life_

_Seeking to seize on the whole moment, yeah—_

The sound of an electric guitar tore through the auditorium as another spotlight shined down on the guitarist.

"Whoo!" The girl exclaimed during the guitar interlude, "Helloooo everyone! My name is Risette! …And I looooove Yasogami High!"

She blew more kisses to the roaring crowd, winking as she flashed the peace sign, and began to sing again as she walked across the stage, high fiving the crowd.

_Now I face out; I hold out _

_I reach out to the truth of my life _

_Seeking to seize _

_On the whole moment to now break away _

_Oh God let me out , can you let me out? _

_Can you set me free from this dark inner world; Save, me now _

_Last beat in the soul—_

The song came to a finish after another catchy electronic pop interlude, and the crowd roared with cheers and applause.

"W-wow! That was amazing!" Yosuke exclaimed, fanning himself like a diehard fan girl.

"W-whoa…" Kanji said, sniffing.

"EW! Is your nose bleeding?" Chie exclaimed, shoving him.

"Risette! Risette!" The crowd chanted. Even some of the male teachers joined in on the chant, pumping their fists.

"Thank you! Thank you! I love you all!" Rise shouted to the students. "Here's another one from my latest album!"

The music picked up again, this time with an almost erotic, pulse pounding beat. Rise began to dance, running her willowy fingers down her neck, to her collarbone, and down over her slender body which curved in a slight "S" shape as she swayed her hips back and forth.

_I'm sorry; can you make the music louder?_

_I'll be the girl of your dreams—_

She flashed a cute, seductive look to the crowd, biting her bottom lip.

"Wha- I specifically told her agency NOT to perform that one.." The flustered principal could be heard saying.

After the surprise mini concert, the students were dismissed, and, after waiting for the crowd of autograph and picture mongers to subside, Rise skipped over to Chie, Yosuke, and Kanji, who were waiting in the back.

"Yosuke-Senpai! Chie-Senpai! Kanji-Kun!" She exclaimed happily. "I'm so happy to see you guys again!"

She tackle-hugged them.

"Kanji?" She asked suddenly, "What's wrong?"

Kanji slunk to the floor, presumably passed out.

"…Oh, don't mind him." Chie said. "I'm glad to see you too! That was awesome!"

"Oh man—", Yosuke said dreamily. "That was awesome. Like, really, really awesome."

"Uh, I just said that?" Chie said, raising an eyebrow at the blushing Yosuke.

"Aw, thanks you guys!" Rise replied, bouncing up on the tip of her toes and back down gleefully. "I just _had_ to throw a little surprise concert for everyone! Where's Yukiko-Chan and Naoto-Kun?" She asked.

"That's right." Chie said, "Yukiko had to take care of things at the inn, and Naoto didn't come today."

"Oh yeah! That's right!" Rise said. "Naoto called me. She wants us to meet up at Junes after school! Just let me change out of these clothes and I'll be right back, 'kay?"

"Y-you don't really have to…" Yosuke said, half dazed. Chie smacked him on the back of the head.

"We'll wait right here." She said.

* * *

The arcade was abuzz with the electronic symphony of sound effects and music coming together in chaotic discord.

"Continue-?" The creepy voice said as bloody numbers counted down from ten on the screen.

"Oh, I lost—"

"Heh, just watch how ol' Junpei does it!" A boy said taking the red, candy colored light gun from the girl's hands. He pulled down his cap and put some coins into the machine, then pressed the brightly lit "Start" button.

"This gun's always busted, so you gotta aim a little to the left!" He said, shooting up the horde of flesh eating zombies. The demure blue haired girl he was with hid behind him.

"S-scary…"

"Take that! And that! Oh crap—it's the boss!"

A giant axe wielding zombie crashed through the wall, and ran towards the player character.

"Time for my special technique! Junpeiiiii rapid fire!" Junpei roared. He stuck out his index finger through the trigger guard of the light gun and began to shake it back and forth, pulling the trigger in rapid succession.

He landed multiple shots to the giant zombie, but it hurled its giant axe at the player nonetheless, killing him anyway.

"What the! How friggin' cheap!" Junpei exclaimed. He put the gun back in the machine's holster and shrugged.

"Dang… Just a couple hundred tickets more and I coulda got you the giant stuffed rabbit you wanted, Fuuka-San…"

The teal haired girl smiled, blushing.

"I-it's alright Junpei-kun… we can always come back…Besides, I'm having fun!"

Junpei scratched his head, blushing sheepishly. "Y-yeah…"

He looked at her; into her clear, turquoise eyes, then at the pink lips that curled back into a warm smile. Her lips looked really soft…

Junpei jumped suddenly as he felt a vibration in his pocket.

"Whoa!" He picked up his phone and looked at the screen. "The heck?"

"Who is it?" Fuuka asked.

"It's… Mitsuru…?"

He flipped the phone open and put it to his ear, plugging his other ear with his finger.

"Yo!" He said.

"It's Mitsuru. Mitsuru Kirijo." The voice on the other line said.

"Y-yeah I know who this is… What's up? It's been awhile.." Junpei replied.

"Please meet us at the Okina University Girls' Dorm, room 657, tomorrow night. It's regarding the recent appearance of Shadows on the news, so, needless to say, it's urgent. I'll be calling the others as well. Goodbye."

She hung up.

"Whoa… that was… weird." Junpei said.

"What happened?" Fuuka asked. Her phone rang.

"That's probably Mitsuru right now, calling to tell you about it herself…" Junpei said.

* * *

The familiar Junes jingle played leisurely on the PA as Kanji, Yosuke, Chie, and the now decently dressed Rise arrived at the Junes food court.

"There you are." Said Naoto, sitting at their regular table. She was already with Teddie and Yukiko.

"Naoto-kun~!" Rise squealed, hugging the smaller girl tightly.

"Ooh… did your breasts get bigger, Naoto-kun?" She said lowly, however not low enough for the rest not to hear.

"W-what!" Naoto replied, flabbergasted. Her face was beet red.

"Rise-Chaaaan!" Teddie exclaimed, running to her with his arms wide open. She ignored him, greeting Yukiko instead.

"Yukiko-Senpai! I missed you!" She said, hugging her, too.

"I'm f-forever alone…" Teddie said, hanging his head.

"Aw, I'm just kidding Teddie!" Rise said, hugging the rotund bear. "You'll always be my favorite bear."

"F-favorite bear…? Ooohh…Does this mean I scored..?" Teddie said.

"Seriously, that again?" Yukiko groaned.

"Kanji-Kun, I'm relieved to see you're okay." Naoto said. Kanji grinned.

"Heh. Thanks. No way some loser shadow is gonna keep me out of the game for long!"

"Indeed." Said Naoto, "Anyway, we were discussing a pattern we discovered in the appearance of the Shadows in Inaba."

"Oh yeah? What'd you guys discover?" Yosuke said.

Teddie chimed in. "Funny story! Yukiko-Chan said something about it being rare that the moon was as big as it was last night, and I said, 'I guess you could say it happens only… once in a blue moon'! And that's when Naoto-kun realized the shadows only appear on nights with full moons!"

"…Once in a blue moon? Seriously?" Chie asked, shaking her head.

"That was pretty bad dude…" Said Yosuke.

Teddie hung his head.

"The point is," Naoto said with a laugh, "I think we may have pinpointed when the shadows will appear. It's going to be a huge advantage knowing when to prepare."

"Yeah. Definitely!" Said Yosuke.

"Um, one thing I was wondering…" Said Yukiko. "How come it's only lately that we can summon our Personas outside the other world?"

"Eh?" Said Kanji. "Come to think of it, yeah, we had never summoned our personas on this side until now.."

"It just seemed to come natural when I did it the first time a shadow appeared…" Said Yosuke.

"I was wondering the same thing this morning." Naoto said. "So I conducted an experiment."

Yosuke laughed. "Our little detective. Always on the ball with things." He grinned.

Naoto blushed. "Err.. well… anyways, Teddie, if you could please, try to summon your Persona right now."

"W-wait! Here!" Chie exclaimed, looking around. Naoto nodded.

"It'll be fine." Said Naoto. "Please, continue."

"Uh.. okay…" Said Teddie. He stepped back, and took a deep breath.

"Come, Kamui!"

Nothing happened.

"H-huh…?" Said Teddie. He tensed up, growling.

"Grrrrrrr! Personaaaa!"

Again, nothing happened.

"As I thought." Said Naoto. "It seems that we can only summon our Personae outside of the T.V. world at certain times… However, as to what conditions must be fulfilled, I do not know. "

"Hmm… maybe a shadow has to be around?" Rise said. Yosuke nodded.

"That or we can only do it on full moons…?"

"Both theories seem plausible…" Said Naoto. The group fell silent, contemplating.

"Oh, and another thing—" Yukiko said. She took out a small golden skeleton key.

"The Shadow we beat dropped this."

Naoto picked the key up from Yukiko's outstretched palm.

"A key…?" She said.

"Yeah… but a key to what?" Chie said. "Wait, does this mean the first one we beat dropped one too?"

"Oh man!" Yosuke exclaimed, "I don't remember it dropping one but… we high tailed it outta there so quickly that we didn't have time to exactly stop and look around…"

Suddenly two children ran up to Teddie, who was wearing his bear 'costume'.

"Aren't you El Bear-On Guapo?" One of the kids exclaimed, grinning. He was missing a front tooth.

"W-will you sign my Teddie Doll?" The other child, a little girl asked. She held up the fuzzy Teddie doll to him.

"…Teddie doll?" Yosuke exclaimed. "When did we start selling those?"

Teddie looked to Kanji, who immediately started whistling innocently and looking away. Yosuke put his palm on his face again.

"They're selling like hotcakes!" Said Teddie, signing his autograph on the doll. He gave it back to the little girl, who gave him a tight hug and skipped away as the boy chased after her.

"Wow! Nice signature, Ted." Chie said, surprised.

"Still… should you really be revealing your identity like that…?" Yosuke asked, shaking his head.

"The Ted-Meister never turns down a fan." Teddie replied smugly.

"Snrk…" Yukiko giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

* * *

The fit, snow-haired young fighter sat on the stool in his corner and relaxed, his eyes glazing over as he looked up into the bright lights which hung high over the boxing ring.

"Aki, take this fight a little more seriously, wouldya? Win this, and we've got a shot at the Qualifiers!" The coach said as he passed a bottle of water to the young man sitting in the corner.

"I would, if I had gotten a tougher opponent." The cocky young man said before taking a quick sip of water from the straw inside the bottle.

"Ah.. well…still.."

The bell rang, and the young fighter stood up, smacking his gloved fists together as he made his way to the center of the ring. The coach picked up the stool and made his way out of the ring, shaking his head.

"That damn Akihiko," He said to another staff member in his corner. "He's good, but…you'd think he'd _at least_ keep his hands up…"

The two fighters met in the middle of the ring and touched gloves.

"Ready? And, fight!" The ref said before removing himself from in-between the boxers.

From the get go, the young fighter named Akihiko danced, circling his opponent clockwise. His opponent threw a series of cautious jabs, which Akihiko dodged with ease.

"Damn it Akihiko! Quit playin' around!" The coach yelled. Akihiko scowled over at him.

"If you say so." He said with a casual shrug.

His opponent threw a useless right hook, which Akihiko dodged by deftly leaning back. He rushed forward and landed a hard straight punch with his left hand. His opponent's head snapped backwards, then suddenly hunched over and fell to his knees, holding his stomach. He promptly vomited before passing out.

"W-what the hell just happened!" A spectator cried out.

The referee briefly checked on the fallen fighter, and waved his hand, signifying the end of the match. The bell rang again.

"A-and.. winner by K.O…? Akihiko… Sanada…?" The announcer said, confused.

"D-did he follow up with another punch…?" Another spectator asked his friend.

"Maybe he threw the fight…?"

Akihiko walked out of the ring nonchalantly and headed to the locker room as officials replayed the knockout combo on a TV. When slowed down to 3x slow motion, they could make out a blurred right punch to the body thrown by Akihiko.

Awaiting him in front of the door to the locker room was a familiar red-headed girl.

"You should have taken it easier, Akihiko…" Said Mitsuru, leaning cross armed against the wall. She smirked.

Akihiko shrugged, draping a towel over his broad, bare shoulders.

"I was trying to, but my coach wanted me to, 'take it more seriously'." Akihiko replied. "What brings you here?"

He subtly gave her the once-over before casually looking away.

"The Shadows in Inaba. I know you saw them on the news."

Akihiko smirked.

"So I take it you're rounding up the old group, am I right?"

Mitsuru nodded. "Wouldn't it be more 'fun' to beat up _Shadows_ instead of people?"

"Well…" Akihiko looked over his shoulder. Paramedics were placing his downed opponent on a stretcher.

"Count me in. I was wondering when you'd show up anyway." He said, and went into the locker room. Mitsuru watched him go, smirking. Her smoldering ruby eyes glowed.

"You haven't changed one bit Akihiko." She said. "Well… maybe a little…"

She blushed.

"Well, that leaves just two left."

* * *

[The next day, May 17th 2012…]

"Let's see…" Said Ms. Toriumi, the composition teacher at Gekkoukan High School, "It's the 17th today so… Ken-Kun, let's see if you know this one."

"Huh?" The student named Ken stood up.

"Which of the following is an oxymoron: 'Pale like the moon', 'So tall he needed a giant ladder', or 'Thundering silence'?"

"Thundering silence." Answered Ken.

"Correct!" Ms. Toriumi said. "If you would have gotten that wrong I would have had to call _you_ an oxymoron!" She said with a giggle.

No one laughed.

"Ugh… I hate this job." She said, resting her head in her hand. The door to the classroom slid open, and Souji walked in, handing Ms. Toriumi a slip.

"My, well hello…" Ms. Toriumi said, straightening up. She smiled at Souji, who simply handed her the paper and left without giving her another look. She sighed.

She read the paper, then looked up. "It's for you, Ken-kun. You're needed in the office."

Ken took the slip from her and headed to the faculty office where he saw a familiar face.

"Mitsuru!" said Ken. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Amada-Kun." She greeted. "I needed to talk to you. It's about the recent appearance of the Shadows on the news lately."

"Yeah! I was going to call you but—"

Suddenly, a commotion could be heard in the halls outside.

"Somebody grab that mutt!" A teacher exclaimed. The scuttle of four paws on the school's tile floor could be heard just before the echo of clumsy footsteps.

"Ah! Koro-Chan!" Ken exclaimed, "I told him to stay in the home-ec room!" He ran out the door, into the hall, where he saw a group of teachers and staff scrambling to catch a wily, white Shiba-Inu dog, who continued to evade them. He had a rice ball in his mouth.

"Stupid dog! That's MY lunch! MINE!" A teacher cried before slipping over a puddle of spilled water and crashed into a bespectacled student carrying a ridiculous amount of text books in a stack taller than him.

The books, along with the student and teacher fell to the ground with a thud.

"Koro-chan!" Ken yelled. The dog, thoroughly satisfied with itself pranced over to Ken, and swallowed the rice ball whole.

"Arf!" He said, wagging his tail. His floppy pink tongue hung lazily as he panted.

Mitsuru emerged from the faculty office.

"It's good to see you again, Koro-chan!" She said. Koromaru sat down, and nodded, as if to understand and reciprocate the greeting.

"Th-that's _your_ dog…!" The bruised and defeated teacher growled.

"Uh… well…" Ken replied, stammering.

"Actually," Mitsuru interjected, "It's _my_ dog. I trust that won't be a problem?"

"Bah!" Flustered, the teacher stomped off, muttering under his breath.

* * *

"Oh, oh I know!" Adachi said, sitting on the floor across from his cell-mate. "How about we make a game out of how many guards get piss thrown at them? Or no! We can make bets on whether they'll throw piss, spit, or other!"

"Oh would you please shut up already…" His cell-mate groaned. Adachi pouted.

"Fine…"

A guard came up to Adachi's cell and tapped on the bars.

"Inmate 111791." He said. "You've got a visitor."

"I do? Sweet!" Adachi said as he stuck his arms through the slot to be handcuffed before he was led out of the cell and into the hall towards the visiting area. He crossed his fingers as he went.

"Hot babe.. hot babe…" Adachi chanted.

To Adachi's disappointment, it was not a 'hot babe' but a pale, willowy man. He had long, disheveled gray hair. He smiled at Adachi.

"Hello."

"Make it quick." The guard said, and left. Adachi sat down.

"And just who the heck are you?" Adachi asked.

"My name is Takaya. I lead an organization called Strega. We're an organization of Persona users that…" He paused, searching for the right words. "Well, we specialize in performing… _unique_ tasks for _unique_ clientel…"

"Persona...?" Adachi said, his intrest thoroughly piqued.

"Indeed." Takaya said with sly grin, leaning forward and resting his chin on his interlocked fingers.

"Lemme guess." Adachi said, "You use your Personas to carry out assasinations, heists, kidnappings.. That sort of thing right?"

"I'll be brief. I know you can summon a Persona… So why not join us?" Takaya asked. Adachi chuckled.

"Sorry pal. I'm a changed man. I'm reformin' my ways y'know? Paying my debt to society…I lost my game. Gotta play by the rules."

"I see…" Takaya said. "I just thought you'd be bored in here, what with all the commotion going on on the outside…"

Adachi looked away.

"I thought you'd be interested in knowing that you can summon your Persona on _this_ side, between 12 am and 1am." Takaya said, and stood up.

"How do you even know about me, or the other side?" Adachi asked.

Takaya smiled. "We have resources of course. Here's my card." He slipped him a thin paper card. It was blue, and contained a series of numbers on it.

Adachi looked at the card and smiled. "Ooooh. That's clever."

"Anyway, consider it won't you? See you around." Said Takaya, and left.

* * *

Yosuke groaned.

"Man.. how many floors does this thing have?"

"This has gotta be like the 50,000th floor…" Chie said. Down the hall, Kanji smashed a Shadow with his riot shield.

"Found the shiny thingy. What do you guys wanna do?" He asked.

"Let's go back for now. I'm beat!" Said Yosuke.

* * *

"Here we go—" Said Junpei, walking the halls of the dorm. "Suite 655… 54… eh? It goes down.."

"Here it is!" Fuuka called, waving Junpei over. The two knocked on the door. After a moment, it creaked open.

It was Aigis.

"Hello." She said.

"Aigis-Chan!" Fuuka greeted. She gave her a hug. "How have you been?"

Junpei grinned. "Good to see ya, Ai-chan!"

They entered the dorm, where Akihiko, Mitsuru, Ken and Koro-chan were already gathered.

"Hey guys." Akihiko said with a casual wave.

"Hello!" Said Ken.

"Arf!"

"Hello everyone!" Fuuka greeted. She knelt down in front of Koromaru, giving him a nice scratch behind the ears. "How are you Koro-chan?"

"Heeeeeey!" Junpei exclaimed. "Talk about nostalgia blast! Hehe. Where's Yuka-tan?"

"Probably with her new boyfriend…" Aigis said as she walked over to the kitchen licking frosting off of her finger. "Would anyone like a cupcake?"

"Boyfriend? Whoa.." Said Junpei.

"She'll be arriving soon." Mitsuru assured him.

"Doesn't… Aigis seem kinda different…?" Ken asked, watching as Aigis stuck her head in the fridge, looking for something.

Mitsuru laughed.

"I've noticed it too… She's become more… _human_ over the years, I think." She said. Ken nodded.

"I like it." He said. Junpei grinned, and ruffled the boy's hair.

"I notice _you've_ changed!" He said. "You got a lot taller!"

Ken looked up, wide eyed. "S-seriously?" He asked.

Akihiko grinned.

"It's as if we haven't been apart at all, isn't it?" He said. Fuuka nodded.

"Mhmm." She said. "Still, I really missed everyone!"

Aigis returned with a chocolate cupcake. She removed the thin paper wrapper delicately, somehow preserving its shape and put it on the table before proceeding to take a small bite.

"H-how did you do that…?" Ken asked. He noticed a pile of similar perfectly shaped cupcake wrappers on the table.

"You're going to gain weight eating that many cupcakes…" Akihiko chided, also noticing the pile. Aigis looked up, suddenly alarmed.

"R-really? But I…" She pouted, putting the bitten cupcake down.

"I see you're just as good with the ladies as ever Akihiko-Senpai…" Junpei said with a laugh.

"Huh?" Akihiko replied, oblivious.

The door opened, and Yukari entered the dorm.

"Heeeey Yuka-tan!" Junpei greeted.

"Yukari-Chan! How are you?" Fuuka greeted.

Yukari smiled, surprised.

"Whoa! Hey everyone! Was that meeting supposed to be today?" She said before joining everyone else at the middle of the dorm. She looked at the coffee table.

"Aigis! Did you eat all of my cupcakes?" She exclaimed. Aigis looked down guiltily.

"S-sorry… Shall I bake some more?" She asked. Yukari sighed.

"It's okay…."

"So Aigis here tells me you have a boyfriend now?" Junpei said, "'Sup with that?"

"W-wha?" Yukari looked over at Aigis. "Boyfriend…? What are you talking about?"

"I… Don't recall saying anything about that…" Aigis said looking up innocently.

Junpei laughed. "I see how it is…"

"Alright everyone." Mitsuru said. Everyone settled down. "Did you all remember to bring yours?"

Akihiko nodded. "Yup. Got it right here." He took out a shining silver gun and placed it on the table.

Junpei took out his Evoker and put it on the table as well.

"It took awhile to dig it out, but I found it."

One by one, everyone, with the exception of Aigis, Koromaru and Yukari took out their Evoker and placed it on the table.

"Oh, I'll get mine…" Yukari said and ran into her room.

She knelt down and opened up the bottom drawer of her desk and grabbed her Evoker. Right next to it was an old strip of photos taken in the Print Club machine inside the arcade at Paulownia Mall. She let go of her Evoker and picked up the old photograph.

In the first picture, a younger, laughing Yukari was sitting next to a blue haired boy who was making a funny face. One of his sleepy, steel blue eyes were covered by a fang of disheveled blue hair.

Yukari smiled.

In the second picture, Yukari was giving a mock-kiss on the boy's cheek. She was puffing out her cheeks like a goldfish and crossing her eyes.

Yukari shook her head, chuckling to herself.

In the final picture, the two shared a kiss.

Yukari's heart sank.

"Hey, Yuka-Chan… do that pose again." The blue haired boy had said. "I was going to do something funny."

"Like what?"

"Hurry! Just do it! It's going to take another picture!" He said.

"Okay okay!" Yukari said, and leaned in for another mock-kiss. This time, the boy turned and pressed his lips against hers. Her lips were soft, wet, and warm.

She closed her eyes.

He placed his hand along her jaw-line and ran his fingers down the nape of her neck, pulling her close. She felt a swell of dizzying warmth fall over her; her heart pounded in her chest.

The camera flashed.

The boy broke the kiss, putting his forehead against hers. He could feel her hot breath against his face as she panted.

"M-Minato-kun…" Yukari gasped. Her brown eyes, like shiny, molten molasses were soft and eyeing his lips before looking into his eyes.

"I love you, Yukari." He had said to her with a smile. "I always will."

"…Yukari?"

It was Aigis, who had come to check on her. She saw the other girl at the foot of her drawer, looking at the picture she had held gingerly in her hand.

"Are you alright?" Aigis asked, before kneeling next to the quiet girl. Yukari nodded.

"Y-yeah…" Yukari said. Her husky voice broke.

"Yukari." Aigis said softly, putting her willowy arms around the other girl. She held her.

"I'm... I'm alright." Yukari said.

"…But I'm not." Aigis replied quietly and continued to hold the other girl.

After a few minutes, the two emerged from Yukari's room.

"Took ya long enough." Said Junpei.

"Sorry!" Said Yukari. "I couldn't find it at first—"

She walked over to the table and placed her Evoker with the others.

"Good." Mitsuru said, eyeing the Evokers on the table. "Now, contrary to what you may all know, Aigis and I have been monitoring the appearance of the Shadows for awhile now. Without a doubt, the Shadows that have been appearing in Inaba are indeed the Arcana Shadows we fought and destroyed three years ago."

"I thought that second one looked familiar." Junpei said. "It's the one whose ass we kicked on that monorail!"

He looked over at Yukari. "Man, we almost died back there! Good times right?"

Yukari rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I remember when you ran off like an idiot and almost got yourself killed.." She said with a grin. Junpei laughed sheepishly.

"Oh, to be young again..." He said.

"So anyway," Yukari said, "You're absolutely _sure_ they're the same ones we beat before?"

Mitsuru nodded. "I saw them both with my own eyes."

"But.. why would they start appearing again?" Fuuka asked. She frowned.

The group fell silent.

After a moment, Akihiko spoke up. "I know we're all thinking it—So I'll just say it. It's possible that.. Nyx is coming back."

"…That would be the most logical conclusion… yes…", Said Mitsuru with a sigh, looking at the ground.

"So what are you trying to say? That 'it' really is coming back?" Yukari cried out. "How can that be! You all know what happened… the Seal.. He… Minato-kun…" She trailed off as her voice cracked.

"…It's too soon to tell." Mitsuru said. "But the timing of the appearance of these Shadows are fitting into the same pattern as the Shadows of the Arcanum that culminated in the appearance of Nyx…"

Koromaru whimpered.

"I-I refuse to believe he died for nothing." Fuuka spoke up suddenly, "But something is going on here, and we need to figure out what!" Her voice softened. "I've got to trust in him, that what he did was for the best…"

Junpei whistled. "Woo, Fuuka…Right on!"

"It… gets worse." Mitsuru said.

"Worse? How could it possibly get any worse?" Ken asked. Mitsuru took out a small golden key and placed it on the table.

"The hell!" Junpei exclaimed.

"That's-!" Said Akihiko, shocked.

"Yes. It's a key from the Abyss of Time.", said Mitsuru.

"No… No… You can't be serious—", Yukari said, backing away.

"I managed to obtain it during the appearance of the first Shadow." Mitsuru said. "I believe the Shadow itself dropped it. And if my theory is correct, that means each Shadow that will appear on the full moon from now onwards will drop one as well."

"Were you able to get a key from the second one?" Akihiko asked sternly.

Mitsuru frowned. "No… It seems the other group of Persona users were able to acquire it."

"The other Persona users…" Akihiko said. "Could it be Strega…?"

Junpei's fist tightened.

"I don't believe so…" Mitsuru replied. "Whoever they are, their purpose seems to be benevolent. Besides… you all so what happened to Takaya at Tartarus… He has to be dead…"

"Good guys or not," Said Ken, "We can't let them have all the keys! They have no idea what those keys are capable of unlocking!"

"That's right.", said Akihiko. "They may not know it now but.. What they're holding is a key to the Past… And if they mess with it… there's a chance they might undo _his_ sacrifice…"

"There's no way I'm letting that happen! Ever!" Yukari exclaimed. The others nodded.

"We're the OG Persona users!" Junpei said, grinning. "Whoever they are, we'll kick their ass!"

"Arf!" Koromaru barked. His bright red eyes glowed with determination.

"Indeed." Mitsuru nodded. "The next full moon occurs on June 14th. That's when we'll confront them, defeat the next Arcana Shadow, and take the next key."

Junpei brandished his fist.

"Aww yeah! It's SEES vs. The Heroes of Justice! And they're going down!" He said.

"Umm… when you say it that way," Yukari interrupted, "Don't _WE _sorta sound like the bad guys…?"

"Eh..? Well yeah.. I… Guess you're right…" Junpei said, confused. Fuuka giggled.

"Good thing I've been staying in shape—", Akihiko said.

"But… how are we going to train our Persona's…?" Yukari asked. "It's not like the Dark Hour or Tartarus exists anymore…", Mitsuru smirked.

"I was wondering when someone would ask that." She said. "Fortunately, we have all kinds of simulation rooms at the Kirijo labs. We can fight all sorts of training battles there. We even have data on the 12 Arcana Shadows."

"Nice!" Junpei said. "Sure beats the hell outta the arcade! Right Fuuka-San?" He nudged Fuuka.

"B-but.. my rabbit…"

Now formally reunited, SEES resolved to confront the other team of mysterious Persona users, and gather the keys to the Abyss of Time...


	5. Piece Cinq: A Reason to Fight

_**Piece Cinq – A Reason to Fight**_

Adachi stared listlessly at the TV in the "recreation" room of the prison.

_It's too tiny to fit through anyway._ He said to himself.

"Alright alright." The guard said, shutting the TV off. "It's going to be lights out soon. Go back to your cells."

Adachi followed a guard back to his cell, and went back in.

"Hey Louie." Adachi said. His cellmate grunted.

"Shut up." He said.

Adachi sighed, sitting on his bunk.

_So… bored._

Adachi looked over at the clock.

"It's almost midnight." Adachi muttered to himself. When the clock's hand struck 12, the lights went out.

"Go to sleep." The guard called out. His footsteps echoed throughout the hall and eventually faded away.

"H-hey Louie…" Adachi said to his cell mate who slept on the bunk above him.

"What now?"

"Wanna play a game?" Adachi asked.

"Idiot, don't you ever shut the hell up? Go to sleep."

Adachi sighed. "I see…"

Meanwhile, down the hall, two guards were conversing.

"So a Giraffe and Rhino walk into a bar right, and—"

The other guard stops him. "I know this one. He goes 'are you gonna leave that 'lion' there?' It's not funny at all."

"Ah whatever."

Suddenly an explosion echoed from the block the guard had just patrolled a moment before.

"What the hell was that!"

They burst through the door to the jail block—it was mired in dust and debris from the explosion.

"What happened!" One of the guards exclaimed. The entire block was in an uproar, with inmates screaming and shouting chaotically.

From the dust a body flew backward, almost hitting the two guards. He had a giant stab wound in the middle of his gut.

"What the!"

A maniacal cackling could be heard within the dust cloud. Adachi emerged from it, grinning.

"He didn't want to play—" Adachi said, shrugging. "So I got rid of him."

The guards drew their side arms.

"Get on the ground, now!" One of them cried. He was shaking.

"You look scared." Adachi said, grinning. Why don't you relax a bit?" His face twisted into crazed smile as he held his head. He grimaced suddenly, as if in pain.

"Let's play some more!" Adachi exclaimed madly as his Persona, Magatsu Izanagi, the corrupted version of the creator god appeared above him. It was black and red and had an aura of pure despair about it. It rushed the two guards, wielding its naginata back hand.

Gun shots rang out through the jail, followed by pained, blood curdling screaming.

The guards fell to the ground, their lifeless bodies landing in a heap. Adachi began to walk away when suddenly an inmate called to him.

"H-hey man!" He said, "Aren't you gonna let us out!"

Adachi stopped.

"You're right…" He said calmly. "I should let you all out." He started to cackle.

"HAHAHAHA! Like I'd do that. You're all scum. All boring, stupid scum. You all deserve to be put on a rocket and shot into the sun."

"Wha-!"

"Actually…" Adachi said, as another twisted smile came across his face. "I had a change of heart. I'll release you…

…Release you from your meaningless existence that is!"

Adachi gripped his forehead tightly, as he cried out in pain.

"Die a slow and painful death!" Adachi cackled, as Magatsu Izanagi summoned forth a torrent of fire to engulf the entire jail block.

The fiery night was echoing with the screams of the tortured, dying inmates as Adachi casually made his way out of the prison, killing and destroying everything in his path.

The night sky glowed an ominous orange, reflecting the inferno of the prison ruins.

* * *

[The next day, June 7th 2012]

"And, well.. that's all I can think of for now…" Yosuke said, thinking hard. He was sitting in a chair across from Dojima's desk, in his office at the station.

"Hmm… I… see…" Dojima said. "Uh, run that part about Izanami again…? She really said she was Izanami? As in, the Goddess…? And… She was actually the gas station attendant…?"

"Uh huh." Yosuke nodded.

"Jeez-us…" Dojima sighed, grabbing a clump of hair. "You couldn't make stuff like that up if you tried."

Suddenly another detective burst through the door.

"D-Dojima-San! I'm sorry but-!"

"What is it? Get a hold of yourself!" Dojima said. The other detective was as white as a sheet.

"You know that terrorist attack on the prison that's been on the news since this morning!" He asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Dojima said.

"I-it's Adachi—he's missing! They think he's escaped!"

"What!" Yosuke and Dojima exclaimed. They looked at each other.

"He had to have used his!" Yosuke said. Dojima nodded.

"Damn it!" Dojima cursed. "Go—go do your thing!" He commanded. "I'm going to look into this!"

Yosuke nodded. "Right!"

He took off from the station.

"Damn you, Adachi—" Dojima said to himself.

* * *

"Funny," Yukari said, walking alongside Souji at Iwatodai Station. "I didn't think I'd be spending my afternoons hanging out with a high school boy—", she laughed.

Souji smiled, embarrassed. "Well.. I didn't think I'd be spending my afternoons with a college girl.."

"When you say it like that," Yukari said, "It sounds creepy… Like I'm old or something."

They both laughed.

"Better than calling you a cradle stealer!" Souji said, grinning. Yukari gave Souji a playful shove. They stopped at a bench and sat down.

"Hey…" Yukari said, after a pause. "Don't think I'm weird or anything for saying this but—", She looked away.

"…When I'm with you, it's like I forget all my problems." She finished. Souji nodded.

"I should tell you something too." Souji said.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Yukari asked.

"Thank you." Souji said simply. Yukari gave him a look.

"For what…?" She asked. Souji smiled softly, his gaze was transfixed on the flower shop in front of them.

"It was pretty hard for me." He said, "Leaving my friends and family behind in Inaba when I first came here. Usually it's easy for me to say goodbye—I never stay long enough to make close friends anyway. But for the first time..." He paused.

"I actually felt like I had a home to miss."

Yukari looked at him.

"But spending time with you… ", Souji continued, "Is making it easier for me. So…"

"So thanks." He finished, scratching his head. Yukari smiled.

"Well well! So you really do have feelings after all? Mr. Calm and Collected!" She teased him.

"Tch-! Whatever…" Souji replied. Yukari laughed.

Suddenly Souji felt his phone vibrate. He picked it up. It was Yosuke.

"Hello?" Souji said.

"Dude—you're not going to believe this," Yosuke said on the other line. It sounded as if he was running.

"I know we haven't exactly been keeping you in the loop lately, and I'm sorry about that, but—well... it's Adachi. He's escaped prison."

"What?" Souji exclaimed. Yukari looked at him.

"Anyway, I'm getting everyone together at Junes—we'll figure something out. Don't worry!"

He hung up.

Souji put his phone away, gritting his teeth.

"Are... are you alright?" Yukari asked.

Souji sighed. "It's just something happened back home. But everything's going to be fine."

"More… monsters…?" Yukari asked, careful not draw suspicion to herself.

"Yeah…" Souji said. "Something like that."

"Um... Don't worry." Yukari said. "I have a feeling everything is going to be fine."

She remembered the new ordeal that she and the other SEES members would soon have to face.

They both grew silent.

* * *

"Escaped? What the hell?" Kanji exclaimed, when Yosuke had explained to the group what happened.

"He must have used his Persona…" Yukiko said glumly.

"Sheesh, so you're telling me not only do we have to deal with those Shadows, Elizabeth, the Fog on the other side, AND that tower, but now we have to worry about Adachi?" Chie whined.

"It… it seems that way." Naoto said. A tense, solemn silence fell over the group.

"To be honest…" Yukiko said, breaking the silence, "It's all so overwhelming I almost feel like giving up…"

Everyone fell silent again.

A small girl approached the group.

"Hm?" She said. "Hi you guys!" She chimed. They looked up.

"Nanako-Chan!" Teddie beamed. "How are you?"

Nanako smiled. "I'm good! …But, why does everyone look sad? Did something happen?"

Yosuke smiled weakly.

"Uh… no. Everything's fine." He said.

Nanako tilted her head to the side. "Are you lying?"

"Really, Nanako-Chan. Don't worry." Rise said, trying her best to smile. Nanako nodded.

"My friend said the world is ending!" She said, "But then I told her my friends are super heroes! And not to worry!"

"S-super heroes…" Yukiko said to herself. Nanako beamed.

"Yup! You guys can do anything!" She said. Teddie sniffed back his tears.

"Sniff! N-Nanako-Chan!" He said, tearfully. He hugged the girl tightly.

"Nanako!" Yosuke said, "Come on! Let's get some ice cream. My treat."

"Ah! Yay!" Nanako clapped happily. Yosuke and Teddie took her by the hand and went over to the ice cream parlor.

Yukiko laughed to herself.

"I'm-I'm so stupid…" She said. "How could I forget…? Nanako-chan is depending on us."

"To be honest..." Kanji said, "I was having my doubts for a second there too…"

"Me too." Rise said.

"Me as well." Naoto added. Chie smiled.

"Leave it to Nanako-chan to smack some sense into us!" She laughed. Yukiko nodded.

"We'll solve all these mysteries, and defeat all our enemies!" Yukiko said. "For Nanako!"

* * *

"How long ago did he take them?" Takaya asked, watching the test subject through the two way mirror.

"About fifteen minutes ago." The scientist replied.

"I see." Takaya said. The test patient sat huddled in a corner of the room, holding himself as he rocked back and forth.

"What were the results on the other two?" Takaya asked. The scientist shook his head.

"Both deceased."

"Damn it!" Takaya cursed. "Why can't we replicate Kirijo's results?"

"It can't be helped." The scientist said. "We're working with a much smaller budget… The Nanjo Group is not the empire it once was…"

"Tch.." Takaya gritted his teeth. "Up the dosage."

"That much in his system will kill him for sure—"

"I don't care. I want to see results." Takaya replied. "Do it! Now!"

The scientist motioned to one of his assistants. "You heard him. Give the subject another dose."

"Yes sir!" The assistant replied, and entered the room with the test subject, with two guards.

The test subject backed away in fear.

"N-no! Please! Don't!" He screamed as the guards held him down. The assistant jammed two blue capsule pills into the man's mouth and covered it with his hand.

"No!" His cries were muffled by the assistant's hand. He finally choked down the pills, and the assistant and the two guards backed off.

"Urph—augh!" The test subject exclaimed, holding his head. The assistant and the two guards backed away slowly.

"M-my head… It feels like… it's going to explode!" The man said, his breath quickening.

Takaya watched on quietly.

"W-what's happening to me? Aughhh!" He screamed again. One of his irises turned a golden yellow color, and above him, a horrid demon-like apparition appeared, writhing in pain. The lights began to flicker inside the test room.

"Lock the door." Takaya said.

The demon let out a sharp cry.

"W-what the hell!" The assistant exclaimed, running for the door. He pulled on the door knob, only to find it was locked.

"H-hey!" He screamed, banging on the door. "Let me out!"

The test patient's blood curdling screams continued. The two security guards drew their guns, only to be smacked away by the berserk Persona. It grabbed one of them by the neck and smashed him against the window repeatedly.

"Let me out!" The assistant cried again.

Takaya laughed.

"Hahahahah! It's actually working! Wonderful!" He said, and continued to watch as the Persona massacred everyone inside the test room, including its summoner.

"M-my god…" The scientist said to himself.

"I want the drugs ready for mass production by the end of the week—", Takaya said.

"It's going to be months before the effects are as stable as the ones Kirijo produced—" The scientist replied.

"It makes no difference." Takaya said. "This suits me just fine for our purposes."

* * *

The night outside Kirijo labs was silent and peaceful, and traces of a warm summer breeze remained even after the day was over.

Inside the labs however, was a different matter altogether.

A girl ran through the hordes of Shadows, drawing an arrow from her quiver and stabbing an enemy Shadow with it before drawing it back into her bow and piercing another shadow through the head with a well aimed shot.

More enemy shadows closed in all around her.

She put the Evoker to her forehead, gripping it with both hands and closed her eyes.

Thoughts of death entered her mind.

"Persona!" Yukari cried out, pulling the trigger. Blue mist enveloped her, and her mind became empty and focused as her Persona, Isis appeared above her and cast a whorl of wind magic on the enemy Shadows, wiping them all out at once.

"Phew." Yukari took a breath and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.

"W-whoa...", said Akihiko. "What's gotten into you tonight…?"

"Yeah... You're a beast tonight, Yuka-tan!" Junpei said.

Yukari let out a laugh.

"It's nothing. Just found another reason to fight. That's all." She replied with a smile.

Junpei looked over at Aigis.

"Her boyfriend?" He mouthed over to her. Aigis shrugged.

"Okay, are you all ready?" It was Mitsuru's voice over the speaker.

"I'll be putting the data from the Chariot and Justice Arcana Shadows now. Good luck!"

"Bring it on! And those masked losers are next!" Junpei grinned, readying his katana.

"Let's go, Koro-chan!" Ken said, readying his naginata.

"Arf!"

"Here it comes!" Fuuka exclaimed.

* * *

Adachi whistled cheerfully as he buttoned up his newly acquired police uniform.

"Thanks a bunch!" He said with a smile to the policeman whom he had tied up and gagged with a sock.

"Mmph! Mmmph!" The police man yelled, his screams muffled by the sock.

Adachi walked away, leaving him on the ground in the middle of the nearby woods in his boxers and socks.

"Now, where to?" Adachi asked himself, taking out the blue card he acquired from Takaya. He got into the police car he took from the policeman and started the engine.

"Mikage-Cho eh? Good ol' Lunarvale. Jeez." Adachi adjusted the police cap he was wearing, frowning at himself in the mirror.

"Why am I wearing the hat?" He asked himself, and tossed it into the passenger seat.

"Strega, huh. Sounds interesting."

Adachi put the car in gear, and drove onto the highway.

* * *

After the battle, the SEES team exited the simulation chamber.

"Phew! Whatta workout!" Junpei said.

"How was it? Mitsuru asked. Akihiko shrugged.

"Not a bad place to train, actually." He said. "Still, I was surprised that we really could summon our Personas outside of the Dark Hour just like _they _could. But why?"

"That's another thing we can ask them when we confront them…" Mitsuru said. Akihiko nodded. "I'm definitely looking forward to it."

"Yukari-Senpai! You were on fire today!" Ken said. Yukari brushed off the compliment with a wave of her hand.

"Guess I was just in good condition today." She said.

"I'll say!" Added Junpei.

Aigis removed her left arm, which was a rail gun, and replaced it with her normal, human arm replica.

"Ew, could you not do that in front of me…?" Junpei asked, taken aback.

"Apologies…" Said Aigis, snapping the arm into place.

"Junpei has a weak stomach." Yukari teased.

"Well, let's call it a day everyone. Good work." Mitsuru said.

"It's pretty late. Almost one." Akihiko said. "I'll give you a ride home, Ken-kun."

"Okay. Come on Koro-chan!" Ken said. The shiba inu replied with a woof.

"I guess we'll take off too. See ya!" Junpei said.

"Goodbye everyone." Fuuka said, following the others out.

"U-um…Mitsuru, may I speak to you for a moment?" Aigis asked, her eyes darting over uneasily to Yukari as she rested on a chair. Mitsuru looked up from her computer console.

"Um, sure. Let's meet in the other office." Mitsuru said, and lead her to another room.

Aigis closed the door behind her as Mitsuru turned around.

"What's this about, Aigis?" She asked.

"You… haven't told Yukari-san yet…?" Aigis said, holding arm self-consciously.

Mitsuru looked guiltily at the ground.

"No… I was hoping I'd be able to sort it all out quickly so that I wouldn't have to, but it's taking longer than expected." She replied. "No one knows how anyone could have breached the security here, let alone without a single sign of forced entry."

"Could it have been, someone on the inside…?" Aigis asked. Mitsuru sighed.

"That would be the only logical explanation…"

Outside, Yukari crept close to the door of the office the two had sealed themselves inside, and pressed her ear to the door.

"But why? Why would anyone want to steal Minato's Evoker?" Aigis asked. Behind the door, Yukari gasped.

"I-I don't know…" Mitsuru said. "It's all my fault. I knew I should have kept it with me… But I just… I couldn't take it. The pain was just too much."

Aigis looked on, frowning. Mitsuru laughed quietly to herself, shaking her head.

"I can't believe it's been three, almost four years already, and I still miss him so much." She said softly.

"It's the same for me." Said Aigis.

"Well, I have people looking into the matter." Mitsuru said. "So I think it would be better to keep it a secret for just a little while longer."

Aigis looked away at the ground.

"Come on." Mitsuru said. "We should get back to the dorm. Yukari must be tired."

She walked over to the door, opening it, only to see Yukari standing in the hallway in front of her, gripping her Evoker tightly.

"T-Takeba-San!" Mitsuru exclaimed. Aigis' eyes widened.

"Yukari…"

"When were you planning on telling me?" Yukari asked quietly, her gaze fixed at the white, sterile marble floor of the lab.

"Yukari I…" Mitsuru began.

"You what?" Yukari exclaimed. "How could you not tell me something like that!" She cried.

"Yukari please!" Mitsuru pleaded in vain. "As we speak I have people—"

"Oh you have _people_!" Yukari scoffed, turning her fiery gaze to the older girl. "Bullshit! Why aren't you searching for it yourself? How could you let something like this happen?"

Mitsuru fell silent, staring at the ground.

"Ugh!" Yukari cried, throwing her Evoker hard on the ground. It bounced up, spinning as chips from the gun's muzzle broke off.

"Forget it!" Yukari cried. "I'll—I'll look for it! Myself!"

She ran off. Aigis ran after her a couple steps and stopped.

"Yukari! Please!" She cried. She turned to Mitsuru.

"She's right. It really _is_ my fault." Mitsuru said. Aigis bent down and picked up Yukari's Evoker. It had lost its shine, and it was littered with scratches.

* * *

Souji was sleeping peacefully when he was awakened by the familiar ring of his cell phone, which lay next to him on his desk.

He stirred, sitting up. "Huh…?"

He picked up the phone.

"Hello…?" He answered sleepily.

"Hello? It's Yukari. Sorry, but… c-can you meet me outside in a few minutes?" Her voice sounded strained.

"Outside…?" Souji said, "As in, outside my house?"

"Yeah."

"Uh.. yeah.. just tell me when you get here…" Souji said, confused.

"Okay.. B-bye…" Yukari said and hung up. Souji scratched his head, and looked out the window. It was raining hard.

"Rain…? At this time of the year?" Souji said to himself.

After a couple more minutes, Yukari called again.

"I'm outside." She said simply and hung up.

Souji walked downstairs, and opened the door. Yukari was standing on his steps, dripping wet.

"Hey..." Something about her smile and casual greeting seemed inappropriate.

"Yukari..." Said Souji, "Is everything alright? Come on in." Souji stepped to the side.

"A-are you sure…?" She said, whispering. "Your parents…"

"They don't get off work for another five or six hours." Souji said, smiling. "Come on."

He pulled her inside.

"H-hey!"

Souji sat her down at his dining table, and left, telling her to wait for a moment. When he reemerged from the hallway, he handed her a towel.

"Thanks…" Yukari said, giving a weak smile.

"Um.. do you want something to drink?" Souji asked. He went into the kitchen.

"No I'm fine." She said, drying her hair. "Ugh. My hair is a mess when it gets wet… It gets all wavy—"

Souji came back from the kitchen with a can of Mr. Salt. He sat down, and took a sip.

"I like it like that." Souji commented.

"I don't…" Said Yukari.

The two fell silent for a moment.

"So umm, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm doing at your house at one a.m. in the morning in the pouring rain…" Yukari said finally.

Souji stayed quiet.

"To be honest," She said, "So am I…"

She laughed at herself. "I'm such an idiot… I should go." She stood up.

"No." Souji said. Yukari turned to look at him.

"What…?"

"Don't go. Stay. Please?" His calm, gray-blue eyes were pleading.

Yukari raised an eyebrow at him, then smiled, shrugging.

"You really are a weird kid, Souji Seta." She said, taking the can of Mr. Salt from him and drinking it.

"Hey! That was the last one!" He protested.

"Thanks." She said, after taking a sip.

"…For the soda?" Souji asked.

"No! I mean—never mind!" Yukari said, slightly flustered. Souji grinned.

"I know, I was just kidding."

The two wound up spending hours talking about random things.

"Hey Souji-kun…" Yukari said, after they had finished laughing at an old story Yukari had told.

"Umm… let's say you had two really close friends.. And… they hid something from you. Something you deserved to know. Would you be mad?"

Souji stared at her for a moment.

"If they truly were close," He said, "Then they must've thought it was for your own good." He paused.

"Unless they aren't your friends at all. …Are they?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"H-huh!" Yukari stammered. "Of course they are! I'd—I'd do anything for them! And… "

She trailed off.

"They'd do anything for me…"

Yukari suddenly became quiet. She looked down at her knees.

"I get it now…" She said. She laughed sheepishly, giving a weak smile. "I guess I owe someone an apology..."

"And they owe you one too." Souji added. Yukari nodded. She looked back up at Souji and smiled.

"…You know, you guys have the same eyes." She said quietly.

"Huh? Who are you talking about?" Souji asked.

"No one." Yukari replied. She yawned and put her head down on the table.

"Goodnight…" She said sleepily.

"H-hey! You're not just going to sleep there are you!" Souji asked, frantically wondering how to put her to bed properly.

"Uh.. umm.." Souji lightly shook her shoulder. Her pink wool cardigan was soaking wet. He sighed.

* * *

[The next day, June 8th 2012…]

Souji grunted softly as he sat up. He had slept on a make-shift bed on the floor made from the winter blankets in the closet. His back was aching with knots. He stood up to check on Yukari. She was still fast asleep, her wavy brown hair falling across her closed eyes, which were sable black arches of clumped mascara and eyelashes.

He smiled, shaking his head, and then got ready for school and left.

* * *

Yosuke was walking to class when he was approached by Naoto.

"Yosuke-Senpai." She said. He turned around.

"Oh, hey Naoto-kun. What's up?" He greeted.

"I was wondering…" She said, "You and Dojima-san are cooperating on the 'case' now, correct?"

Yosuke blinked, looking up.

"Eh? Well, yeah, sure I guess we _all_ are, really."

Naoto smiled.

"Excellent. Do you think he can get us the files pertaining to the 'terrorist' attack at the prison outside of Mikage-cho?" She asked.

"Yeah!" Yosuke replied. "It shouldn't be a problem." He scratched his head, frowning.

"You'd think he owes me _that_ much for the amount of Taco Gong runs I've been having to do… I feel like I have _two _part time jobs now…"

Naoto raised an eyebrow.

"Be careful." She said, "It seems as if he's treating you like Adachi—"

Yosuke turned pale.

"H-hey! Don't joke about that stuff!" He said.

* * *

"Mm…" Yukari covered her closed eyes, shielding them from the beam of sunlight that shot through the blinds. Then she slowly opened them.

"H-huh?" She shot up, having momentarily forgotten where she was.

"Ugh…" She put her hand on her forehead. "Oh, that's right…Did I really do that last night…?" She groaned and laid back down, closing her eyes again.

When she did however, she found that she kept picturing his smile over and over in her mind…

"Tch-!"

She pulled the bed sheets off of her before getting up.

Souji didn't seem to be in his room. On the floor next to the bed was a pile of folded blankets.

"Did I…Make him sleep on the floor? Oops…" She said to herself, laughing guiltily.

She walked toward his study desk. On it was a picture of Souji with his friends from Inaba.

Souji had a big smile on his face as one of his friends, a brown haired boy about the same age as him had him in a headlock. He was surrounded by lots of other teenagers, all smiling brightly.

Yukari smiled. "Aw." She saw a familiar face and looked closer.

"Hm? Is that…? She looks like that one idol." Yukari commented casually before putting the picture back down.

"Hachoo!" Yukari sneezed. She instinctively sneezed into the crook of her arm, but then realized she was wearing a different shirt than the one she had come in. It was one of Souji's school shirts. It fit her quite loosely.

She pulled the collar forward and looked down. She could see her pink bra.

She gasped.

"Th-that perv! N-no way! I'm going to destroy that little-" She stomped out of the room and ran downstairs.

"Souji-kun you disgusting perverted-!" She stopped dead in her tracks.

A man and woman, joined by and elderly lady were at the table eating what looked like breakfast. They stopped eating mid-bite and stared at her.

"I…I see you're up! …Sleep well?" The middle aged woman asked.

"Hi there." The man said, nodding. The elderly woman shook her head.

"Goodness…" She said under her breath. "_Her_, really…?" She said to the other woman, who shrugged.

"Souji-kun went to class already." The woman said. "We have dim-sum... Would you like some? I know it's a little late for breakfast…"

"I-it's two p.m. in the afternoon…" Yukari said. "I should probably get going…"

"Still early!" The man chimed in. The old lady smiled and nodded.

"Umm... m-my clothes…" Yukari stammered. The woman's eyes lit up.

"Oh that's right! They should be done by now. I hope you don't mind. You looked like you were going to catch a cold with those wet clothes so I—"

"Wait… That was _you_?" Yukari asked with a nervous laugh.

"Well yes." The woman said. She paused. "Oh you don't think—", She looked to the man, who began to laugh. He had the same silver hair as Souji.

"Goodness! She thought that he—", The woman said, laughing. Yukari blushed, embarrassed.

"Hahaha… Oh my… Grab a plate, please." The woman invited, motioning towards an empty seat at the table.


	6. Piece Six: Revelations

_**Piece Six – Revelations: Persona  
**_

"Yukiko-senpai!" Rise called to Yukiko whom she spotted in the school's hallway. She turned and waited for the other girl to catch up.

"Hm? Hey Rise-Chan. What's up?" Yukiko asked. Rise grinned.

"So, what's up with you and Souji-senpai?" She asked. Yukiko blushed.

"H-huh? What about?" She stammered back. Rise's eyes narrowed.

"You know what I'm talking about." She said with a mischievous grin. "You guys are lovers, right?"

"Wha-?" Yukiko glowed bright red.

"Yep. There's no use denying it. I can sense it." Rise nodded to herself. "So… have you been calling him?"

Yukiko blinked. "Huh? Well, not really—"

"Ohhh! So webcamming? Ooooh!" Rise squealed, "Have you been giving him 'secret shows'?" Rise asked with a playful wink.

"H-huh? N-no! Secret show? What are you talking about?"

Rise gasped. "Wait, so you haven't been talking to him at all? Aren't you worried!"

"Worried? About what?" Yukiko asked. Rise rolled her eyes.

"Duh! He's in the big city now! Who's to say some fancy clothed city girl isn't digging her claws into Senpai right now?" Rise exclaimed.

"C-claws…?"

Rise nodded, her eyes widening. She began to talk very fast.

"If I were you, I'd be constantly checking up on him! Like text, text, text! You know? Like asking him where he is, who he's with, what he's doing…"

"I-isn't that a little…?" Yukiko trailed off.

"It's perfectly normal!" Rise assured her, waving her hand. "Plus, it's Senpai. We both know how good he is with the ladies—"

Yukiko looked away.

"Err… maybe I should call him right now, you know, to see what he's up to?" Yukiko said hesitantly.

"Yeah! Yeah you should do that!" Rise nodded. Yukiko pulled out her phone.

* * *

"So in today's meeting we'll discuss how we're spending the grant money we received last month." The student council president announced to the others. "Ken-kun, if you could please..?"

Ken nodded, and stood up, reading off of a paper filled with transactions the school made.

"Umm, last month, Gekkoukan High School took in two hundred and forty four thousand, five hundred and sixty yen in non taxable—"

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside in the halls.

"Not again!" A man could be heard yelling, followed by the sounds of many loud, clumsy footsteps.

Souji sat up in his chair, having dosed off before the meeting started. He had been volunteered to student council by a teacher, a Ms. Toriumi.

"Oh don't tell me—" Ken said, and ran out the door. The other student council members looked at each other, confused.

Ken burst out the door in time to see a teacher, whose crooked toupee he was holding down with his hand as he ran; along with a janitor wielding a mop, and a student with a net chasing after a familiar white Shiba Inu dog.

"Damn it, Koro-chan!" Ken exclaimed.

The devious dog bounded through the halls, then turned abruptly around and ran in the opposite direction. The teacher, unable to keep his footing through the abrupt evasive maneuver slipped and fell on his back.

"Aghhh!" He cried. The janitor tried his best to avoid stepping on the fallen teacher, only to roll his ankle and crash into a sculpture the art class had been painstakingly working on for months, knocking it over and landing on it, completely obliterating it.

The student continued to chase the dog back towards Ken.

"Koro-chan!" Ken exclaimed, "Come here!"

The dog ran between Ken's legs and into the student council room as the student swung his net, catching Ken's head instead. Koromaru leapt onto the desk, snatched an envelope in his mouth, and ran out the other door as Souji calmly watched the debacle unfold.

The other student council members watched, speechlessly.

"H-hey…" The president said suddenly. "Wasn't that…? Oh crap!" He exclaimed, "Th-that's the check we got from last month's grant! That dog stole it!"

"What?" Ken exclaimed, the net still on his head.

"E-everyone!" The president commanded, "Catch that dog! I'll make an announcement on the PA system!" He burst out of the room.

"W-was he serious…?" A student council member asked.

"Dunno." Another said with a shrug.

"E-everyone!" It was the president's voice on the PA. "This is student council president, Takahashi Odagiri! To all students, teachers and staff! Be on the lookout for a white shiba inu dog! He has stolen a 'very' important envelope! Anyone who is able to catch the dog and retrieve the envelope uhh—" He paused, thinking of a decent prize.

"Uh, anyone who brings the envelope back to us gets—gets to pick anyone they want from student council to be their date to the harvest dance in the fall! So go go go!"

The PA shut off. Next door, in the student council room, the members looked at each other.

"D-did he just say…?" A girl began to ask.

The eyes of the student council members shifted back and forth at one another, before they abruptly burst out of the room, some of them knocking over their desks as they went.

"Ah—that damn Koro-chan!" Ken said to himself before following the rest of the members out. Souji walked out into the hall calmly. He saw Ms. Toriumi with a net.

"Ehehe…" She chuckled to herself, "Catch that little mutt, and that cute little exchange student will be mine—Souji-kun… Eh..?" She looked over to Souji.

"W-what are you looking at!" She exclaimed and ran off.

Souji scratched his head.

"…Maybe I'd better try and catch that dog too." He said to himself, and ran after the group.

* * *

"He's… not picking up…" Yukiko said, hanging up her phone. Rise gasped.

"Oh no… it's begun…" She said ominously.

"W-what's begun? You don't think…?"

Rise held up her hands, clawing at the air, and nodded.

"M-maybe I'll call again…" Yukiko said.

* * *

"Ahah! Got you!" A rather obese student exclaimed, diving for the dog, only to miss terribly and land face down on the floor.

"Oof!"

"H-hey! Watch out! Whoahhh!" A student exclaimed, tripping over the fallen student, landing on the floor next to him. What followed was a chain reaction of staff and students tripping and falling over one another, creating a disastrous pile up in the middle of the hall. Koromaru turned around and stopped, mocking his fallen pursuers. He wagged his tail happily.

Down the hall, Souji and Ken were running, when they spotted the unavoidable pile of people in the hall.

_Gotta think quick!_ Souji said to himself, _This is my chance to catch him! But how do I get around that barrier?_

He looked at his surroundings as he ran and spied a mop on the floor. He stopped and picked it up.

_That's it!_

He backed up, preparing to sprint toward the pile of people. He was going to attempt to pole vault over them!

Suddenly, Souji's phone rang. He picked it up.

"H-hello?" Souji said, holding the phone in the crook of his neck.

"Finally!" Yukiko said on the other line. She held the phone away from her mouth.

"Um, what do I say?" She whispered to Rise.

"Tell him—tell him that there better not be any hanky panky goin' on between him and other girls! And that if there is, there will be severe consequences! Severe!" Rise shook her finger, and nodded.

"Uh-uh.." Yukiko said hesitantly, "You better not be handling panties—"

"Hanky panky!" Rise corrected, whispering harshly.

"What?" Yukiko asked.

"Um..." Souji said on the other line, as he began to run, "Can this wait? I'm sort of in the middle of—"

Rise shook her head, making the claw motion again. Yukiko began to panic.

"I—I ….I'll give you a secret show!" Yukiko burst out on the other line. Rise nodded approvingly, giving a thumbs up.

"Nice!" She mouthed, and gave Yukiko a high five.

"Wha-!" Souji exclaimed, and in one, catastrophic motion, accidentally inhaled his saliva, causing him to choke, which in turn caused him to trip and fall face first into the upturned rear end of Ms. Toriumi, who had gone down with the rest of the group earlier and was coincidentally searching for a contact lens she dropped.

"Oof!" Souji groaned.

"S-Souji-kun!" Ms. Toriumi exclaimed as she turned around, her face fully flushed. "S-so sudden! I'm still a virgin, dammit!" She exclaimed.

"What the heck is going on here…?"

It was Yukari. She stopped in the middle of the hall, to see a multitude of students, staff, and teachers struggling to get to their feet.

Koromaru happily walked over to Yukari and dropped the envelope at her feet. She picked it and the dog up, who licked her cheek.

"Oh no!" A student groaned.

"Lame…"

Souji struggled to his feet, and picked his phone back up.

"—Are you still there!" Yukiko said.

"Yeah..." Souji replied. "Er, what were you saying earlier…?"

"N-never mind! Bye!" She said, and hung up.

"Yukari-Senpai!" Ken said, running over to her. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Oh, I was just stopping by to visit a friend—" She said, then saw Souji. "Speaking of which… Hey Souji-kun!"

Souji walked over to the two. "Yukari? What are you doing here?"

She took out a neatly folded shirt from her bag and stuffed it into his chest.

"Just came to give _this_ back." She said. "Oh, and I sneezed on it." She said with a playful smile.

"Thanks…" Souji said. "Couldn't you have just left it at home…?" He said under his breath.

"You two know each other?" Ken asked. Yukari nodded.

"Yup!"

"Oh…" Ken said. His eyes lit up. "Oh! _He's_ your boyf—hmphh!"

Yukari put her hand over his mouth.

"What are you talking about?" She said with a nervous laugh. She took her hand off his mouth.

"We're just friends. We just hang out, talk.. Make each other feel good, y'know?" Yukari explained.

"M-make each other feel good…?" Ken said, his eyes widening.

Koromaru, who was still in Yukari's arms looked back and forth between Yukari and Souji, and tilted his head. He whimpered.

Souji and Yukari looked at each other.

"N-no! Not like that!" Yukari exclaimed. "We—ugh, tell him, Souji-kun!"

"She's right." He said. Then he smirked. "In fact, I was making her feel good at my house all night last night."

Ken nodded. "Oh, I see. This is perfect timing! We were having a lecture on copulation and—"

Yukari shot a death glare at Souji.

"Oh, you will pay for that." She said lowly.

"If you want, I can draw up a Punnett square!" Ken said excitedly. "Let's see—I think brown eyes are the dominant genes.. or no wait—no that's correct I think?" Souji struggled to keep from grinning.

"Oh come on! He was joking!" Yukari exclaimed.

"Arf! Arf!" Koromaru barked. His floppy pink tongue hung out of his mouth as panted happily.

* * *

"Eh? The jailbreak?" Doijima looked up from his computer at Naoto, Yosuke, and Chie skeptically. They had unexpectedly dropped by the station and asked to see him.

"Well yeah we have files but… seeing as how it didn't happen in our prefecture we don't have anything too informative—so I don't know that they'll be _too_ helpful."

"Anything will help." Naoto said. Dojima nodded and took out a small stack of papers.

"These are the only bits of information the NPA* was willing to release." Doijima said.

* * *

*A/N – NPA = National Police Agency. Although they have no formal officers of their own, they are a governmental body tasked with organizing the efforts between individual prefectural police. Wikipedia FTW.

* * *

"What are you guys thinking, anyway?"

Naoto combed over the papers.

"Did you already look through these, Dojima-san?" Yosuke asked. Dojima shrugged.

"Well, yeah… Of course, I don't know anything about these 'Personas' or 'TV world'… So maybe you guys can spot something I can't."

"Sheesh…" Chie said, looking at the pictures of the partly destroyed prison. "This is so horrible… so many people died…"

"Damn him.." Yosuke said. "An entire cell block of people…incinerated—how could he do such a thing?"

Dojima looked down sorrowfully. "That damn Adachi..."

He sighed.

"You guys… really defeated him before, huh.." Dojima said. "Makes me wonder what _you_ guys are capable of…"

"Yeah. We'll take him down this time too." Yosuke said, nodding. Naoto put the papers down.

"It's no use—", She said, "There's nothing but details the media already released…"

"What I'm wondering," Chie said, "Is if there was a shadow there. I mean, the night the attack occurred, there wasn't a full moon, was there? So how did he summon his Persona?"

Naoto turned to Chie, her eyes wide.

"W-what? What's with that look? C'mon you know it makes me nervous when you guys do that—"

"My God! Chie-sempai! You're a genius!" Naoto said. "How could I not realize this before?"

"What? What did you find out? What?" Dojima asked, excited.

"Before the incidents of the shadows' recent appearance in Inaba, we had never been able to summon our Personas outside of the other world—" Naoto began.

"You mean, the one _inside_ the TV…" Dojima said, trying his hardest to follow.

"Correct. However, as you already know, we were able to defeat the shadows with our Personas. Here, on _this side._ The question was, why now? The two prevailing theories we had were that we could either summon our Personas only on a full moon, _or_ when a shadow was present."

"I get it now—" Yosuke said, "So you're saying that if Adachi was able to summon his Persona without either a Shadow or the Full Moon present, that that disproves our two theories from before?"

"That is a safe assumption to make for now. It could be that our ability to summon Personas depends on a different condition entirely—hm." She paused. "Yosuke-senpai, what time did you fight the first shadow that appeared in Inaba?"

"Huh…? Uh.. well, I remember Ted had to wake me up…" Yosuke thought hard.

"It was after midnight!" Chie exclaimed. "I remember cause that's when I walked in on you when you had that bo—"

Yosuke put his hand over her mouth.

"You shut your mouth you—" He growled.

"And the warning letter you received, senpai—it gave us the location of the shadow's appearance, and a time. Midnight." Naoto finished.

"So, what you're saying is—" Dojima said, "Those—those creatures appear at midnight, on full moons. And… your Personas, those can be used at midnight too?"

"Precisely." Naoto said. "However I have to give the credit for these deductions of mine to Chie-senpai."

"Not bad, Chie…" Yosuke nodded at her, smirking. She blushed.

"H-huh…? Oh you know me… I just say whatever pops into my head…" She laughed.

"You're a natural, Chie-chan." Dojima said. "Ever think about joining the force?"

Chie's eyes widened. "Huh! S-seriously?"

"Uh, you might wanna wipe the drool off of your face…" Yosuke joked.

Naoto laughed. "Funny. Usually that happens the _other_ way around…"

"Hey, that's not true…" Yosuke protested.

"Uh, yeah. It is _so_ true." Chie said.

"Still," Naoto said, "What I'm wondering is why the NPA would write it off as a terrorist attack? Wouldn't that just make things worse…? Now the Naicho** and maybe even the Boei-Sho* will have to get involved. "

* * *

*_A/N: The Boei-Sho the Japanese name for the Ministry of Defense. I decided to use the Japanese name because it sounds more legit. Wikipedia FTW._

**A/N: The Naicho is kinda like the Japanese equivalent of the CIA.

* * *

Dojima grunted. "Yeah. Not that the Naicho will be able to do anything besides twiddle their thumbs and tap some phones. Still, something definitely stinks here… I'll call up an old friend of mine and see what I can dig up."

Naoto nodded. "Please do. But be careful… politics and investigations… they're a bad mix." She smiled and left.

"See you later, Dojima-san! Say hi to Nanako-chan for me!" Chie said with a wave and left.

"Later, Dojima-san." Yosuke said. Dojima nodded without taking his eyes off of the computer.

"Yeah. You guys be careful!" He replied. Yosuke left.

Dojima laughed to himself.

"Damn kids giving _me_ advice on detective work. Heh."

* * *

"I met your parents…" Yukari said as they left through the front entrance of Gekkoukan. "They're nice."

Souji shrugged. "They're alright in small doses I guess." He eyed her.

"Did you really come here just to give me my sneezed on shirt back…?" He asked. Yukari laughed, then shook her head.

"No, no I didn't actually…" She went into her purse and took out two tickets. She flashed them, but pulled them away from Souji when he tried to take one.

"What are those?" Souji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it! Come on!" She said and dragged him to Port Island Station.

* * *

Aigis sighed as she headed up the stairs to the dorm. She took out her key and unlocked the door, and went in. She knocked on the door to Yukari's room.

"Yukari?" Aigis called. There was no answer.

"U-umm…" Aigis leaned up against the door. "I was thinking of baking some more cupcakes… Fuuka-san told me about this nice melon flavored recipe and—"

She bit her lip.

"…I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I think it's because... I didn't want you to feel how I've been feeling… I know that sounds strange…"

She paused, and took a deep breath. "Yukari, I'm sorry but I'm coming in—" She opened the door.

"Yukari—"

Her room was empty. Aigis frowned, and went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She spied an unfamiliar pink box.

"Hm?" Aigis pulled it out, and opened it. There were a dozen assorted flavored cupcakes. There were elaborate designs and garnishes put on them with frosting, and different fruit, including raspberries, cherries, and blackberries. There was also a picture. Aigis picked it up.

It was a picture of Yukari, Mitsuru and Aigis when they went to Kitty World together. Yukari had put a Kitty hat on Aigis' head, which hung crookedly on her blonde hair. Aigis looked up at the hat, confused. She was holding a brightly colored lollipop. It was one of the rare moments Mitsuru's true smile was captured on film.

Aigis smiled. She turned the picture over. There was a simple message written on the back. The writing was thin and loopy.

"I forgive you guys! And, I'm sorry too.

-Yukari"

Aigis' blue eyes softened.

* * *

"4:15 Departure to Yasoinaba now boarding." The monotonous automated voice announced on the station's PA.

"Wait a second…" Souji said, still being dragged by the arm. "You're not—"

Yukari stopped. She let go of Souji and turned around, flashing a big smile.

"I know you've really been missing them…" She said, "And… I did sorta drink your last Dr. Salt. That's the only reason I'm doing this! Got it?" She grinned.

"B-but… it's at least a day's trip going there…" Souji said. Yukari raised an eyebrow.

"What are you, worried about curfew? Quit bein' such a little kid." She said. "Are you going or not? Because I'm not really sure what there is to do in Inaba…"

Souji smiled, shaking his head. "You have to be one of the strangest people I've ever met. And I've met some strange ones."

Yukari scoffed. "I could say the same about you. Now come on!"

She boarded the train, and Souji followed after her.

* * *

A darkly dressed young man looked around before entering the alley. At the end of the alley was another man, his baseball cap pulled down tightly. He held his jacket snugly about him.

"What have you got for me today?" The darkly dressed young man asked. The other man grinned.

"Got some new shit from the L.V."

"Oh yeah?" Said the other, "What is it?"

"Some real strong hallucinogenic shit. I heard the dude who manufactures it is an old Nanjo Group chemist. So how about it? Feelin' adventurous today?"

The young man raised his chin.

"Alright—I'll try it out."

"Good man. You know the price."

The darkly dressed young man put a small stack of Yen into the man's outstretched palm.

"Enjoy, friend." He said, and handed the young man a bottle of mysterious blue capsule-pills.

* * *

"I wanna sit by the window!" Yukari said, leading Souji to some seats by the train's window.

"Alright, alright." He said, rolling his eyes. "You're just like a little kid…"

"Hey!" Yukari protested, "Just because I'm an innocent, carefree girl doesn't mean I'm a little kid. Sorry I'm not all grown up like you—I saw what you were hiding under your bed by the way. Tsk tsk…"

"W-what!" Souji exclaimed. "What was under my bed!"

Yukari laughed. "I was just teasing you! Jeez. With a reaction like that, I wonder if you really _were_ hiding something under that bed of yours…"

"You should come to my room again sometime and see for yourself." Souji answered coolly, after making a quick recovery.

Yukari blushed. "Huh! Okay… maybe I will…"

* * *

"Senpai!" Doijima greeted on his cell. "It's good to hear from you. Were you able to dig anything up?"

"Dojima-kun…" The man on the other voice replied, "You're not going to believe this shit."

"Try me." Dojima replied.

"Look—you didn't hear this from me…" The man paused, then exhaled sharply. "In fact, if you wanna keep your job, let alone keep yourself out of prison or _alive_, you didn't hear this _at all_. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Dojima answered.

"Alright. Look, some freaky shit is going on in the Boei-Sho. The Self-Defense force is in on it, Foreign Affairs—I don't know where the top of this is! The whole freakin' Cabiniet could be in on it for all I know… But some freaky shit is going down, and I mean freaky. I'm talking human experimentation, hallucinogenic drugs—"

"What about that company I told you to look into—" Dojima asked, "Kirijo Group? What's their involvement?"

"That's what I was about to tell you." The man said. "This, 'Kirijo Group' is bad news. I found some interesting nuggets you'll especially love to get your hands on… Turns out, that freak explosion on Tatsumi Port Island, you know, the supposed 'accident' that happened back in '99…? They were the ones responsible. Kirijo was doing all kinds of shady things back then—human experimentation, psychological engineering, brain washing, ESP… they were messing with technology that warped space and time _itself._ One of the senior scientists working on the shit going on down there had had enough, so he tried to blow the whistle on the whole thing. But the Kirijo execs wouldn't have it, and shit hit the fan from there. Whatever happened in the struggle wound up triggering the explosion."

"Jesus…"

"Yeah. And it gets worse. You'll never guess where they were getting their test subjects. A high school—Gekkoukan High. It all matches up with a series of disappearances back in the late 90's. All the victims were Gekkoukan students, and never found. "

"What!"

"Look, this is huge—if the media gets wind of this, Internal Affairs would never hear the end of this. And here's the kicker—until '99, the Kirijo group was merged with another firm, called the 'Nanjo Group'. They're the ones involved with the Ministry right _now_…"

"What?" Dojima exclaimed, "You're telling me the government is involved in this now? What the hell is going on!"

"Yep. The top brass at Shinjuku decided to continue Kirijo's twisted experiments… My guess is, they're the ones who made the jail break at the Mikage-Cho penn out to be a terrorist attack. For what reason though, your guess is as good as mine..."

"You think you'd be able to find anything out?" Dojima asked. The man sighed.

"Look Ryotaro-kun…" He said, "You know I'd do anything to help you out but this is… This is getting in deep. I don't wanna mess with this anymore than I already have, and I suggest you leave it alone as well."

"But!"

"There's such a thing as knowing _too_ much, you understand me? Please, for your own good, promise me you won't try to find out anymore about this…"

Dojima sighed.

"I understand. Thank you, Senpai."

"No problem. Take care of yourself, won't you?" The man replied.

"I will. You too." Dojima hung up.

"Hm…"

* * *

Souji smiled contentedly as he watched the countryside fly by through the window. Yukari had fallen asleep. She was resting her head on his shoulder. Her hair smelled like fresh strawberries.

_Everyone. I'm going to see you all soon. _

…_I wonder what they're up to now?_

Souji took out his phone, careful not to wake the sleeping girl leaning on him. He wrote a new text to Yukiko.

"Hey. What are you up to right now?

-Souji"_  
_

* * *

"There's no top to this thing, is there?" Chie groaned after defeating a wave of enemies inside the mysterious tower that appeared in the TV world.

"Doesn't seem like it…" Yosuke said.

"Heh! It's all good! More butt to kick for me!" Kanji said with a grin.

"How 'bout it guys?" Yosuke asked the group. "Should we call it day?"

"Yeah… I'm pretty tired…" Yukiko said.

"Teddie, did you notice _her_ presence again yet?" Naoto asked. Teddie shook his head.

"Nuh uh."

Naoto turned to Rise. "What about you, Rise-chan?"

Rise shook her head, frowning. "Nothing aside from the usual garden variety shadows..."

"That really creeps me out." Yosuke said. "I mean, does that mean she leaves this world every now and then just like us? And if so, where does she go? Our world?"

"I'm too tired to make any sense of it…" Rise said. "Let's go home for today, yeah?"

Everyone nodded, and decided to exit the TV world for the day.


	7. Piece Sept: Old Flames

_**Piece Sept – Old Flames**_

Yukari was running in the darkness.

"W-where am I…?" She asked. There was no response. She kept running.

In the darkness, a blue haired boy appeared to her. He had an ethereal blue glow about him.

"Minato…" Yukari said. The boy turned around and began to run.

"Minato!" Yukari cried out, "Please wait! Minato!" She ran after him.

"Why?" She said between bated breaths as she ran. "Why are you always running from me?" She cried.

"Can you please stop?"

The boy stopped.

The two stood in the darkness for a while. Finally Minato turned around.

"…Sorry." He said, breaking the silence.

"S-sorry?" Yukari exclaimed, tears falling down her cheeks. "That's all you have to say for yourself? You—you idiot! I hate you, you know that?"

Minato gave a warm, gentle smile.

"I know." He walked closer to her, wiping away a tear from her cheek. He left his hand on her cheek, sliding it down to hold her chin gingerly between his thumb and finger.

"I'm sorry for the loneliness I've caused you and the others…"

"It's okay." Yukari said, giving a weak smile. "That's what I wanted to tell you! Lately I haven't been lonely anymore. I have Mitsuru and Aigis… and the others have come back together too—and there's someone else. I made a new friend! You would love him, I think. You guys are so similar sometimes, it scares me."

Minato continued to listen to her, smiling quietly.

"He makes me laugh. And… feel safe. Like you do." Her voice broke, as the tears came back.

"Minato. Can't you come back?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. I can't. Not just yet…"

Yukari looked down. "I knew you'd say that." She said, disappointed.

"I'm sorry..."

"Stop apologizing! I hate it when you do that!" Yukari said.

"Then… Thank you." Minato said. Yukari looked up at him, her wide, shiny brown eyes pleading to him.

"Don't say 'Thank you' either! I hate it when you say that too! It… it just makes me sad."

Minato grinned.

"I love you." He said. "And don't tell me you hate hearing _that,_ too…"

"I-idiot.." Yukari said quietly, and began to cry. Minato held her tightly, and she squeezed him, crying into his chest.

"I hate you! I hate you hate you hate you!" She kept crying.

"Y-yukari…?"

"H-huh…?" Yukari opened her eyes. Souji was looking down at her, concerned.

"I was just trying to tell you that we arrived…" He said, raising an eyebrow.

Yukari sat up.

"W-what was I saying…?"

Souji gave her a weird look. "Huh? ...Nothing. Why?"

"Never mind…" She said and looked out the window. It was night time. "We really are here…" She said.

Souji nodded. "Yup! So come on already!" He pulled her up, and the two exited the train.

"So where to?" Yukari asked cheerfully. Souji looked at her and smiled.

"I was thinking I'd take you to my 'secret headquarters' first." He took her by the hand.

"W-whoa!"

* * *

Yukiko was just about to head home from Junes when she got a text.

"Hm?" She looked at her phone.

"Hey. We're just getting back from the other world. Why?" She texted back, then put her phone back in her pocket.

"So same time tomorrow everyone?" Yosuke asked.

"Yep!" Chie answered.

"Heck yeah!" Kanji replied.

Yukiko got a quick reply to her text.

"Tell everyone to meet at the secret headquarters.", was all it said. Yukiko raised an eyebrow.

"Um… you guys…" She said. Everyone turned to her.

"What's up, Yukiko-chan?" Teddie asked.

"I don't know why but, Souji is telling us all to go the food court…" She said. Everyone looked at her.

"Huh…? But… why…?" Rise asked. Yukiko's eyes lit up suddenly. She smiled brightly.

"Let's just go!" She exclaimed, and ran for the food court. Everyone looked at each other. Yosuke shrugged, grinning.

"Let's go!" He said, and took off after her. Everyone began to run to the food court. They were laughing;

Though they weren't quite sure why.

* * *

The Moon shone brightly on the quiet Junes food court. A gentle, warm summer breeze wafted through, carrying the familiar scent of Junes' fast food. Souji's arms and face tingled as the soft, healing breeze blew through, almost as if to welcome him.

"So where is it?" Yukari asked. Souji sat at a table at the food court. He laughed.

"Hahaha! It's right here. And it hasn't changed one bit." He looked down and ran his finger over the words Kanji had etched into the table which read, "Case Closed - 3/20/11!"

Yukari gave him a look. "_Here_? Really?" She sat down next to him.

"Yeah…"

Outside Junes, Yukiko could feel her heart beat in her throat as she ran. Her legs couldn't carry her fast enough. She shut her eyes and could see his face; the boy she loved and never stopped loving. She could _feel_ him close. How had he changed? Did he still feel the same way?

Souji smiled peacefully, looking down at the table.

"My friends and I… Had some of our best and worst moments here at this very spot." Souji said, reminiscing. "We studied together here, talked for hours about _anything_, and we worked through our toughest problems here. And it's where I found out my little cousin, Nanako was going to pull through, even though just a few days before we thought she—"

His eyes softened, and he let out a nervous laugh.

"Are you okay?" Yukari asked, looking over at him.

"Y-yeah… I don't know what came over me." Souji said. "I'm fine."

"You really love your little cousin, don't you? You're always talking about her…"

Souji chuckled, looking up at the waxing moon.

"Before I met her, I really didn't care about anyone, or anything; Why would I? When you move around as much as I do, the people you encounter every day, _day to day_—it's like they stop being _people_ and just become… noise. Just background noise that'll change once I move again."

Yukari continued watching him, his silver-blue eyes watching the sky unblinkingly.

"So when I thought that I would never hear her run up to me and yell, 'Onii-chan! Onii-chan!' again… Well… I… I didn't know how I'd go on."

Yukari nodded. "You're lucky. I… I've lost someone close to me. I didn't think I'd ever be able to move forward."

She shut her eyes. Minato's face flashed in her mind. She opened them again.

"Sometimes I think I still haven't."

Souji looked over at Yukari.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to—"

Yukari shook her head. "It's okay! Actually, it's kinda weird but…" Her voice faltered.

"I don't know why, but, lately, whenever I'm with you… I feel…" She put her hand to her chest, suddenly finding it a struggle to breathe, let alone speak. Each word that came from her mouth was like another _secret_ her heart fought with every ounce of its strength to keep, yet, at the same time, wanted revealed.

"I feel whole, again." She finished.

Yukari's voice became a low whisper that cut through the soft, caressing touch of the fresh, countryside air like a lovely melody.

Souji listened quietly, his steel blue eyes unmoving.

Yukari returned his gaze, blushing. "Quit staring at me like that—" She said, "I… I can't think…" She shuffled her feet nervously.

Souji smiled, leaning in closer. "You can't…?"

"N-no…" She said, turning away. "I can't…So cut it out…"

Souji gently turned her face towards his. Yukari's eyes widened. They were shining, quivering orbs of dapple, burnt sienna.

"Then don't. Just feel."

He kissed her softly, and her eyelids fell slowly as she returned the kiss.

Yukiko slowed to a stop outside of the food court. She looked away.

Souji broke the kiss, seeing Yukiko.

"Yukiko?" He said. Yukari looked at him, then to the unfamiliar girl in the red school uniform.

"Yukiko!" Yosuke said, laughing, finally catching up. "So what's this about?"

Without a word, Yukiko turned and ran off. Yosuke's smile faded as Rise caught up to him.

"Where is she going…?" Rise asked, watching her run off.

"I… don't know…" Yosuke said. Rise turned and looked to the table at the food court.

"S- Senpai…?" she exclaimed, wide eyed.

The rest of the group caught up.

"What's going on here?" Kanji asked. "Souji-senpai?"

The chair scraped against the ground sharply as Souji abruptly stood up, pushing his chair back. He watched Yukiko run off. His heart sank into his stomach, and tore itself apart.

* * *

A/N: Took a bit of a hiatus because I wasn't sure whether I wanted to approach the Yukari x Souji x Yukiko love triangle as something a bit comical, like Love Hina or Tenchi Muyo, or something far more heavy to key up the drama when SEES and the Investigation Team have their climactic battle. In the end, I decided to take a hint from the random sappy love songs my playlist was playing, to channel that into this whole situation! How will it play out? Fufufufufu… (I got the rest figured out! Don't worry!) Now, please sit back and enjoy the gam—err, I mean the story. O.o

~_Kira_

P.S. – Might as well take the time out of this ridiculously long author's note to say, thanks for reading, and for the kind reviews and helpful advice so far! Please 'bear' with me! (Teddie joke.)


	8. Piece Huit: Snow

_**Piece Huit - Snow**_

Her name was snow. Her smooth, fair skin was worthy of her namesake and only served to compliment the smooth, silky, sable hair which chased behind her as she ran blindly. Her eyes, which were so deep a brown they were often mistaken for ebony, were flooded with tears she couldn't fight back.

Everyone mistook those sad, beautiful eyes for black. Except for _Him._

He had seen them up close; sharing a quiet moment with her sitting on the steps of the local shrine, their favorite spot to sit and spend time alone with each other, where the tall, thin trees whose leaves were a bright auburn gold enclosed the sky all around them. It was their private world; theirs and theirs only.

She would smile, still in the pink kimono she donned for work, up at the sky, completely at peace with the world. Only because He was with her.

She held a red pinwheel up to the wind, and it spun and shined magnificently in the pale autumn sun.

And laughing with her he'd put his arm around her, tentatively first, the way teenage boys are when they make these gestures to a girl for the first time. But she didn't mind at all. She rested her tired bones on him, and he only held her warm, thin body tighter. They would stay this way for hours, the girl quietly watching her red pinwheel spin until she fell asleep in his arms.

Sometimes, she'd wake up to find him gently brushing away a lock of ebony hair from her face, or just listen to his strong, steady heartbeat. She would always feign being asleep whenever she did this.

Her heart, whose blood ran as deep and fiery red as the wool cardigan she held tightly about her had always been guarded by tall, impenetrable walls of solid ice.

But with His little gestures, they were melted.

And yet, she had just seen the very same boy sharing a soft, gentle kiss with another girl.

Yukiko tripped, falling hard on the cold, unforgiving concrete. She let herself cry, but it wasn't over the minor scrape she suffered in the fall.

Was his love for her as transient and ephemeral as foot prints in the falling snow?


	9. Piece Neuf: A New World Fool

_**Piece Neuf - A New World Fool  
**_

"Senpai! When did you get back?" Naoto asked.

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Kanji asked. Chie chimed in.

"Yeah! We coulda planned something!" She said. Souji smiled sheepishly and looked at Yukari.

"It was a sort of a last minute thing…" He said.

"Ha! Either way, glad to have you back Partner!" Yosuke said, nodding.

"Sensei!" Teddie exclaimed suddenly, crying, "I missed you so much!" He hugged Souji tightly.

"I missed you too, Teddie…" Souji said, laughing. Rise cleared her throat.

"So… Who is your friend?" She asked, a hint of suspicion in her usually cheery, melodic tone.

"Oh. This is my friend Yukari… she's an Okina U student…" Souji said.

"Hello!" Yukari said, smiling congenially.

"Uh huh." Rise said, her eyes narrowing. Chie gave her a look.

"What's with you…?" She asked Rise quietly.

Yosuke grabbed Kanji and Teddie and huddled closely with Souji.

"Ahem," He said lowly, "VERY niiiice. She's a total babe! Those legs! Wow! And a college girl to boot! Oh man!"

Kanji was blushing. "H-have you touched her butt…?" He asked, his innocent eyes open wide.

"Dude!" Yosuke scolded, "You don't just go around asking people if you've touched a chick's butt…"

He paused.

"…Have you though?"

"If I know Sensei, he's touched her butt and then some!" Teddie said, nodding proudly.

Seeing the boys' huddle, Chie gathered Naoto and Yukari together and made a huddle of their own.

"What do you think, Naoto-kun?" Chie asked.

"Definitely up to something perverted." Naoto nodded.

"I thought so too." Chie said. "Okay, target Yosuke! Commence operation!"

Naoto nodded.

"Yosuke-senpai! An A/V idol!" Naoto exclaimed suddenly.

"Ughwaaaah!" Yosuke turned his head "Where!—OOF"

He turned directly in time to catch a shoe in the face thrown by Chie.

"Ow! What the hell!" Yosuke exclaimed. "Wait, where did you even get that shoe!" He asked her.

Chie grinned.

"I always have a few ready for you in case you do pervy stuffs!" She said proudly.

Yukari laughed. "I can see why he loves you guys so much…" She said.

Rise gasped.

"Awww senpai! You said you loved us! Awwwww!" She hugged Souji tightly, then suddenly shoved him away.

"Wait, I'm supposed to be mad—err… Never mind." She stepped away.

"I'm going to look for Yukiko-senpai." She said, and ran off.

"Oh that's right, where did Yukiko go?" Chie asked. Souji and Yukari exchanged glances.

* * *

"Aigis?" Mitsuru called out as she entered the dorm. "Are you ready? We're meeting up at the lab to train again."

Aigis was sitting in the dining room alone eating a cupcake. She looked up from the book she was reading.

"Understood."

Mitsuru frowned. "Has Yukari returned yet…?" She asked. Aigis shook her head.

"No, but, it's okay. Don't worry."

Aigis flashed an unexpected smile.

"Please relax." She held out a beautifully garnished vanilla frosted cupcake.

"Have a cupcake."

* * *

"Yukiko-senpaiiiiii!" Rise called out as she searched the quiet streets of the shopping district. She pouted.

"Where could she have gone off to…?"

* * *

Adachi pulled up in front of the gated facility and stopped. A security guard walked up to his window.

"Evenin' officer." He said.

"My name is Adachi. I'm here to see Takaya." Adachi said, tapping on the headrest of the passenger seat restlessly.

"Oh, right, Mr. Takaya has been expecting you. Please enter." The security guard waved at the person manning the gate, and it promptly opened, allowing Adachi to drive in.

"Not bad." Adachi commented as he parked his car. He had ditched the squad car earlier for a modest, common sedan.

"So this is Strega's digs, eh?"

Upon entering the facility he was led by an assistant to a remote testing room where Takaya was awaiting him.

"Ah, good to see you escaped alright." Takaya said. "However, a bit more subtlety would have been appreciated…"

Adachi shrugged.

"So? What's the job?" He asked. "A con like me can't exactly go out and apply for a position at your local mom and pop grocery store…"

Takaya smirked. "I'm so very glad you asked—because the job I have for you… …Is to create a new world."

* * *

Yukiko sat quietly on the steps leading up to the Tatsuhime Shrine. She held her stocking clad legs close to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees. Her silky black hair fell like curtains around her face.

Everything was quiet save for the soothing chirp of the crickets.

_Souji…_

She couldn't stop saying his name over and over in her mind.

"I guess I should head home…" She said to herself, and was about to get up when Rise appeared.

Rise looked at the girl, frowning. "There you are…" She said quietly. "Hey, I've been looking for you… why did you run off?"

Yukiko offered a weak smile. Her eyes were swollen—it seemed as if the leaves of the plants throughout the quiet shrine were not the only ones who Night had bestowed sweet drops of dew upon.

"Sorry for making you worry… I just… I…"

Rise took a seat on the steps next to her.

"What happened?" She asked. Yukiko shook her head.

"Oh… it was nothing… I'm fine. Oh, I hope I didn't worry the others—"

Rise grabbed Yukiko's arm and rested her small chin on her shoulder, looking up at her pleadingly.

"Yukiko! I know you're not okay… Tell me what happened. Was it Senpai and that girl…?"

"I guess you were right." Yukiko said very quietly. "I couldn't be there for him, so he found someone else—someone better. Someone who he could hold and be with everyday… I'm… I'm happy for him."

"Yukiko-senpai…"

"I'm just, I'm just really tired…" Yukiko said. "I'd better get back home." She stood up.

Rise looked up at her, concerned. "Hey, Yukiko-senpai." Rise said.

"Hm?"

Rise gave a warm smile. "Let's spend the night together. Since I'm staying at the inn anyway."

Yukiko shook her head. "Thanks but, I kind of feel like being alone right now…"

She walked off.

Rise stared at the floor.

* * *

"So how long are you guys in town for?" Yosuke asked. "I mean, the train has to have stopped running by now, right? Are you guys staying at the Dojima's again?"

"Err…" Souji answered. "Well, my parents don't actually know I'm here… Yukari here kidnapped me."

Yukari rolled her eyes.

"Ohh, I get it… you can't let Dojima-san find out you're here or he'll call your mom!" Yosuke said.

"Whoa, is Sensei's mom _that_ powerful?" Teddie exclaimed. Yukari gave him a strange look.

"Ahaha Ted you sure say some weird things sometimes…" Chie said, laughing nervously.

"Well that's too bad anyway… I'm sure Nanako-chan would have loved to see you. Wait, so then, where are you two staying the night?" Yosuke asked. Souji looked at Yukari.

"Well, we haven't exactly figured that out yet…" He said.

"Senpai, if I may, why don't you two spend the night at my estate?" Naoto offered.

"We can all spend the night!" Teddie exclaimed. Naoto's eyes widened.

"Err… well…Sure, I suppose we can all spend the night." Naoto said. "It _is_ the weekend…"

"Then it's settled!" Chie said. "Sleepover at Naoto-kun's place!"

"Cool! I wonder if I should bring my knitting pins…" Kanji said to himself.

"Dude, you knit…?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah! I do! Got a problem? They aren't just for stabbing WOOL y'know!" Kanji exclaimed.

"You weren't kidding when you said you've met strange people…" Yukari whispered to Souji.

"Told you." Souji nodded.

After spending a little more time getting caught up, the group decided to meet up at the Shirogane Estate after returning home to grab whatever blankets or supplies they needed to spend the night.

"Senpai, would you and Yukari-san like the head over to my place now?" Naoto asked. Souji smiled.

"Actually…" He said, "I was planning on making one more surprise visit…"

Naoto smiled. "I see… careful Dojima-san doesn't catch you." She said, and left with the others.

"Who are you planning to visit?" Yukari asked. Souji pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"You'll see!"

* * *

The Dojima home was quiet and lonely as usual.

"Okay, and welcome back to Celebrity Jeopardy!" The quiz show host said. "Mr. Cosby, would you like to choose a category?"

"I do not." Mr. Cosby replied.

"Okay an—wait, what?" The host asked, confused.

Nanako tilted her head."This is a weird episode…" She looked at the clock.

"Oh, it's getting late…" She said, and turned the TV off. The phone rang suddenly.

"Hm? Oh! Maybe it's dad!" She said, running over to the phone. She tiptoed and picked it up. Lately she noticed she had been able to reach the phone more easily.

"Hello? Dojima residence…" Nanako said precociously.

"Hi Nanako!" Souji answered on the other line. Nanako furrowed her eyebrows.

"Who.. who's this…?" She asked. Souji laughed.

"You mean you don't remember your oni-chan?"

Nanako's eyes lit up.

"I-I knew it was you! I just wasn't sure! Oni-chan! How are you? Are you coming to visit soon? Today, my friend showed me this sticker of Kitsune-Kitsune Power and—and—"

Souji laughed. "Slow down, slow down! Hey, is your dad home?"

"Huh? Dad? Oh… he's going to be working late again…"

"Listen, Nanako," Souji said, "I'm coming to visit right now-"

"Right now? Are you just getting off the train? Did you bring a souvenir? I—"

Souji couldn't help but smile brightly at the excited Nanako.

"Look, but you have to keep it a secret from Dojima-san, okay? My parents don't know I'm here. And neither does he! So if he finds out, I'll be in trouble. Okay?"

"Okayyy." Nanako replied.

"Right! I'll be there in a bit!" Souji said. "Bye!"

"Bye!"

He hung up.

"Funny," Yukari said, grinning. "I never figured you to be the kind good with kids."

Souji laughed. "I'm usually not. But Nanako is different."

* * *

"Damn it," Akihiko said as he leapt back to dodge an attack from an enemy shadow.

"Just where the hell is Yukari?" He parried another attack with his arm before countering with a hard left straight punch.

Aigis swept the area with a volley of shots from her attached rail gun, wiping out the enemy shadows. She held up her arm, letting it cool down from all the rapid fire she had been dishing out. Light smoke billowed from the gun's barrel.

"Don't worry." She said serenely. "I am sure she is fine. She just needs to take a break." She nodded.

"If you say so." Akihiko said shrugging.

Fuuka's voice aired over the PA.

"Your time was two minutes and fifty seven seconds, everyone! Come on, I know you can do better than that!"

"Tch—" Akihiko scoffed. "Maybe If we weren't a man down… Can she really afford to take a break _now_? The next full moon is only a few days away…"

"Please restart the simulation, Fuuka-san." Mitsuru asked, and flipped her wavy crimson hair back, preparing for another round of intense training.

"Okay!" Fuuka said.

"Ken-kun," Aigis said. Ken ran over to her.

"Yeah?"

"Please use heal and support tactics. You'll fill in for Yukari for tonight."

"Got it!"

* * *

"This is it!" Souji said excitedly as he led Yukari up to the Dojima's front door. He knocked.

"Nanako! It's me! We're here!"

Nanako leapt up, running over to the door and unlocked it before sliding it open.

"Onii-chaaan!" She exclaimed happily, then suddenly fell silent after seeing Yukari. She eyed her quietly.

"…H-hello." Nanako said, half-hiding herself behind the door. Souji smiled.

"Hi there!" He said.

"Hello!" Yukari greeted.

Nanako stayed silent, watching Yukari.

"Hm?" Souji looked at Nanako, then Yukari. He laughed.

"Oh, this is Yukari." Souji said. "She's a really good friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you, Nanako-chan! I've heard so much about you!" Yukari said. "You're so cute!"

"Thank you…" Nanako said quietly. "Um, come in…" She walked into the living room. Souji and Yukari looked at each other.

"She gets really shy…" Souji said as they entered in after her.

"I can see that…" Yukari said. "I feel bad for her… is she home alone often?"

"Yeah…" Souji said, watching Nanako tidy up the living room. "But she's very strong for her age."

Yukari nodded. "Must run in your family."

"Um, there's some leftover Takoyaki in the fridge… and I can make spam musubi…" Nanako said to the two. Yukari knelt down in front of Nanako.

"Oh wow! You can cook?" She asked. Nanako nodded.

"I can also toast bread, and fry eggs!" She said proudly.

"Nanako, let's cook something for Yukari-san together!" Souji said. Nanako beamed.

"Yeah! I wanna make an omelet!"

The three bonded while working in the kitchen, and eating the omelet together; which, although it came out a bit salty for Nanako's refined tastes, came out well.

The visit eventually became animated over small talk.

Yukari took out a 'Let's Go Kitty' brand lip balm and opened it. Suddenly, Nanako's eyes lit up.

"I-is that?" She asked suddenly, "Is that Let's Go Kitty?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, it is. Why? Do you like Let's Go Kitty also?" Yukari asked. Nanako nodded.

"Uh-huh! All the cool girls at school have the stickers—" Nanako said. "But, I don't have any…"

"What happened to Phoenix Featherman R? Wasn't he your favorite?" Souji asked, smiling. Nanako tilted her head.

"Well… I still like that show. But now everyone watches Let's Go Kitty. It's in style." Nanako said, nodding. Yukari went into her purse.

"Well…" Yukari said, "You show those 'cool' girls at school _this_."

She took out a Let's Go Kitty themed tube of lipstick and handed it to the wide-eyed Nanako.

"W-wow!" Nanako said, looking it over. The tube was silver, and the cap was clear, allowing one to see the pink lipstick inside. The cap itself was decorated with glitter, and, of course the trade mark Let's Go Kitty logo.

"But, how will I give it back to you after?" Nanako asked. Yukari shook her head.

"It's yours, Nanako-chan!" She said.

"Wow! Really?" Nanako asked, beaming. She laughed gleefully.

"I wanna put it on!" She said. The three of them laughed together.

"You're a little too young for make-up, Nanako-chan." Yukari said. "Besides, you're too pretty. You don't even need it."

Nanako blushed.

"N-no I'm not…" She said quietly. She yawned suddenly.

"Oh that's right, it's getting really late…" Souji said. "We only meant to visit for a few minutes… Let's put you to bed, Nanako!"

"Okayyy…." Nanako said, and they headed for her room. After she brushed her teeth, Souji tucked Nanako in.

"Goodnight, Nanako." He said, smiling warmly.

"Goodnight, Oni-chan. I love you." She replied sleepily. She was still holding the lipstick. "Goodnight Yukari nee-chan…"

Yukari blinked, surprised. She was standing in the doorway.

"G-goodnight, Nanako-chan!" Yukari said.

"I like you, Yukari nee-chan." Nanako said as she drifted off. "You would be a good wife for my onii-chan… but I'm going to marry him when I get older, so…"

She dozed off. Souji shook his head, chuckling. He left her room and shut the door behind him.

"My my," Yukari said, grinning. "Your future wife. I for one think she's a total babe. What do you think?"

Souji walked towards Yukari.

"A little young…" He joked. She laughed.

"Oh yeah? You like older girls?"

Souji nodded. He put his arm around Yukari's narrow waist and closed the space between them.

"A little older…" He said softly.

"Like… grandma old…?" Yukari replied, backing up. She eyed Souji's lips intently.

Her hot breath on his lips was intoxicating to the boy, who continued to close the space between them, until he had her pinned against the wall.

"Like, cradle stealer old…" Souji said with a sly grin. He placed another soft kiss on her lips, firmly sliding his hand up her back, to her neck. Instinctively Yukari wrapped her arms around him, returning the kiss. Their lips pushed together in beautiful unison, and parted slightly to allow their tongues to meet slowly, delicately grazing one another in a playful, yet tentative dance.

"ZzzzzZzzzz…."

They broke the kiss.

"What was—"

"Zzzzzz…"

Souji laughed quietly.

"Is that Nanako-chan?" Yukari asked. Souji nodded.

"She snores like a grown man sometimes…" He said, looking over at her room. The two were quiet for a moment.

"….Bedroom?" Yukari said.

"Definitely." Souji replied. He abruptly picked Yukari up, bridal style.

"Whoa!" Yukari squealed, "Souji-kun!" She exclaimed, laughing.

"Quiet! You're gonna wake Nanako!" Souji said laughing, and walked up the stairs, opening the guest room in which he used to stay with his foot (luckily for them the door was already slightly ajar) and laid her on the futon, which, understandably was missing its comforter and pillow.

Souji panted. "You weigh a ton—" He said, before crawling on top of her.

"I didn't ask you to carry me!" Yukari retorted.

"Whatever." Souji grinned, planting another kiss on her soft lips. Yukari wrapped her arms around his neck and intensified the kiss, her leg softly sliding up and down Souji's calf. She slid her hands under his shirt, up his surprisingly toned abdominals to his broad chest.

Souji shook slightly under her delicate touches. He traced kisses from her lips, down her jaw line, down to her hot, slender neck as he slid his hand up her soft thigh, squeezing firmly.

Yukari moaned softly, her bright, amber eyes half lidded with thick curtains of lush eyelashes.

"Souji…" She moaned softly again as he gingerly placed delicate kisses back up her neck.

Of course, nothing is more arousing to a man than having his name moaned by a beautiful girl.

Souji slid his shirt off, flinging it by the way side and continuing the kiss once he removed it. He began unbuttoning Yukari's blouse as the two kissed passionately, grinding into her firmly as she wrapped her long, slender legs around him.

After what seemed like a sweet eternity of fumbling with the buttons, he finally managed to open the blouse, revealing her pink lace bra.

"H-hey Souji-kun…?" Yukari said suddenly, breathing hard.

"Yeah?" Souji answered, smiling down at the blushing girl.

"That girl from before… Who was she…?"

His smile faded.

* * *

"I call the couch!" Kanji said, once everyone, save Rise, Yukiko, Souji and Yukari had arrived at the Shirogane estate.

"No way dude—" Yosuke said, "As the leader, I get the couch."

"Wha—" Kanji gasped, "When did we agree that you were the leader in the first place?"

"Um," Chie chimed in, "I don't know what you two are thinking, but I'm sleeping on the couch. Enjoy the floor!"

The two boys glared at Chie.

"What?" Chie glared back. They backed down, muttering something about rags and being on them.

Naoto shook her head, laughing, and turned on the television.

"—We now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this breaking news report."

"Huh?" Naoto sat upright, suddenly alert. The rest of the Investigation Team quieted down and turned to watch the TV.

"Good evening everyone," The anchor said, "It seems that just moments ago a live statement was aired on the internet via satellite issued by the supposed terrorist organization claiming responsibility for the attack on the Mikage-Cho Penitentiary—"

"No way…" Yosuke said.

"Terrorist attack…?" Chie asked.

"We will now replay this video for you at home. Please be advised, this video contains footage that may be shocking to some viewers." After a moment, the screen switched to video footage of dim room, with walls of concrete. It had no distinguishable features around it, except for the backdrop which hung on the wall. It was crimson and read "Neo Strega".

A man with short, untidy black hair walked into the frame. He wore a dark blue jacket, the front of which was embroidered with a patch of a six pointed star inside of a circle, with the letters 'S' 'T' 'R' 'E' 'G' 'A' at each point.

He pulled his tie, as he pulled his collar out with one finger, loosening it. He cleared his throat.

"Hi there." He said simply and waved. It was none other than Tohru Adachi, the detective turned serial killer that the Investigation Team had confronted and defeated but one year ago.

"I-impossible!" Naoto exclaimed.

"I bet all you normals out there have been wondering who caused the big, scary attack on the Mikage-cho Penn. Well—" Adachi's low, eerily calm voice echoed in the room.

He held his arms out, making gestures to indicate himself.

"It was yours truly." Adachi said with a sly nod.

"That bastard!" Yosuke growled.

"We are called Neo Strega." The man continued. "And this—"

He began to hold his head, grimacing as his skull seemed to be trying to crush the brain it was supposed to protect into a squishy puree.

With a cry, his Persona appeared—Magatsu Izanagi.

"This," Adachi continued, panting, "Is called a Persona." He grinned at the camera madly.

"N-no way…" Chie said quietly. Though no one bothered to, or was capable of tearing their eyes away from the screen, if one had looked over at the girl for even a moment they would notice her legs buckling at the knees.

"Look familiar?" Adachi asked. "It's the very same power your 'Heroes' have been using."

He dismissed Magatsu Izanagi.

"Let's get one thing straight—" Adachi said, "Nothing can defeat a Persona-user. We are all powerful—we cannot be stopped, cannot be contained. And make no mistake—"

He smiled crookedly, coming towards the camera.

"We hold all of Japan in the palm of our hands. The world is about to change… The good news is, you 'normals' can have a part in it."

A website address appeared on the bottom of the screen.

"Thanks to this limited time offer, you guys can harness the power of Persona for yourselves-Take revenge on those who've scorned you! Steal whatever it is you've always wanted! Do whatever you want! Neo Strega is going to give you all everything you've ever wanted! And we cannot be stopped! So, better call now… Hahahahaha!" Adachi cackled as the whole video suddenly took a turn towards becoming a sort of twisted infomercial.

"Oh, and stay tuned—because next time, I'm going to reveal the identity of those masked 'heroes' in Inaba! I bet the government is going to 'love' to get their hands on these kiddies!"

Adachi walked up to the camera suddenly, and grabbed it, grimacing.

"That's right, you little punks—ehehe…Now… let's see what your next move is going to be?"

He threw the camera on the ground, and all that could be seen was the dark, damp floor and the wall behind Adachi. On the wall the freakish shadow of Magatsu Izanagai appeared from Adachi, twirled its naginata once and struck the camera. The transmission was cut.

The anchor came back on air, slightly paler than he was when he introduced the video.

"A-and, once again, if you're just joining us, moments ago—"

"Th-this… this is awful… this is the worst thing that could have happened…" Naoto said quietly. The rest of the group was speechless.

"Raaaaaagh!" Kanji yelled suddenly punching the wall. The portrait of Naoto's great godfather shook from the impact.

"That sonuva-!"

"W-what are we going to do…?" Chie asked, "He knows every single one of us…"

"I-I know…" Yosuke growled quietly. "I… I gotta call Dojima… he's got to know what to do…"

Yakushiji entered the room, Souji and Yukari following.

"Your guests are here, Naoto-sama." Yakushiji said. Naoto stayed quiet.

"Hey, sorry we were late." Souji said. "We swung by Nanako's…"

He looked around at all the glum faces.

"What happened…?" He asked.


	10. Piece Dix: The Fog

_**Piece Dix – The Fog  


* * *

**_

[The next day, June 9th 2012…]

The train heading back from Hibari station, one of the few stopovers on the way from Inaba back to Iwotodai, was silent, save for the occasional buzz from the headphones of a passenger listening to music, or the sound effects from a passenger's portable gaming system. In Japan after all, it's taboo to make conversation on the trains, as it is believed to be disrespectful to passengers trying to sleep. Yukari Takeba, Souji's friend and Okina University Student was one of those passengers.

She had finally fallen asleep, holding Souji's arm and using his shoulder as a pillow. Souji however, could not get a wink of sleep.

The night before, Yosuke had replayed the video Adachi released, claiming responsibility for the jailbreak in Mikage-Cho, as well as revealed the existence of Personas and threatened to release the identity of the Investigation Team to the public. Yosuke also took the time to pull him aside and brief him on the rest of the strange occurrences—the return of the fog in the TV world, the appearance of the mysterious tower, and the Persona user who seemed to have the same ability as him, Elizabeth.

Then there was the matter of a certain raven-haired heiress to the Amagi-inn… She hadn't shown up with the others to see him off, so he never had the chance to…

…To what?

"What would I even say to her…?" Souji said to himself. He sighed deeply, his chest heaving.

"Mm…" Yukari fidgeted in her seat, but didn't wake up. He looked to the girl asleep on his arm.

Something about her reaction to the video didn't seem to add up.

The synapses in his overworked mind were frayed and burnt out. He decided to rest his eyes.

* * *

Mitsuru sat in front of the window of the dorm, staring out blankly. A teacup of exotic coffee cooled itself to lukewarm temperature on the hazelnut finished table beside her.

Aigis, the blonde haired, blue eyed android stood very still watching her. Something about it would have warranted comments from Yukari about how "creepy" she looked if she were there. She was essentially an inanimate object, a fixture of the dorm living room, yet, alive.

"Neo Strega." Mitsuru muttered to herself. The ghost of Kirijo's twisted, nihilistic past had returned yet again to haunt her. The ghost of a ghost—and the latter could be argued as the ghost of something having never lived in the first place.

Minato's Evoker was still missing, and the true purpose for the reappearance of the twelve Arcana Shadows, as well as the Keys to the Abyss of Time were still unknown, with zero leads to even a glimpse of a clue in the case of any of the aforementioned mysteries.

The phone on the table beside her rang loudly and vibrated. The marble cream on the surface of the coffee, once placid and still, rippled slightly.

"This is Mitsuru." Mitsuru answered after picking up the phone.

"How is that possible…?" She said. Aigis watched quietly.

"Get the IT head of security on it immediately. And inform me of any updates. …Yes. Please do. Goodbye." She hung up, and sighed.

"What happened?" Aigis asked. Mitsuru shook her head.

"It's Kirijo's database…" Mitsuru said. "Someone hacked into it… Some data is missing, but, we don't know what they did… First Minato's Evoker, and now this… What in the world is happening…?"

* * *

Pharos stood at Tartarus' peak, overlooking the bleak, foggy TV world. He smiled, feeling the presence of a visitor.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked Izanami, who was standing behind him. She walked over to a pillar, leaning on it and sighed.

"Soon our chess pieces will finally meet." Izanami said.

"Yes…" Pharos said listlessly.

"It's a little unfair though—" Izanami said. "Regardless of the confrontation's results, the defeat of another Arcana Shadow is one step closer to your revival…"

Pharos smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll think of _something_ to even the odds. Nothing that occurs does so without you pulling the strings in some way, after all…" He said.

Izanami smirked.

* * *

"I-I'm doing everything I can to get to the bottom of this.." Doijima said to the Investigation Team. "But as you already know, I can't even tell where the bottom is…"

"W-what's going to happen to us…?" Rise asked, "…If he tells everyone the truth about us?"

The rest of the group stayed quiet.

"So this, 'Kirijo Group' used high schoolers for their twisted experiments, huh?" Yosuke said glumly. His sullen eyes were cast down at the floor of Dojima's office.

"…Yeah." Dojima said.

"And these high school kids… They all wound up dead…?" Yosuke continued.

"Look, I-I won't let that happen to any of you! I'll—" Dojima paused. Kanji stood up suddenly.

"Hah!" He laughed suddenly, tilting his chin up. Everyone turned to him.

"K-kanji-kun…?" Chie said.

"Screw. This." He said simply. "The hell with Adachi, with those Shadows, and with the whole freakin' Japanese government! The hell with them!" Kanji exclaimed.

"I don't know what's going to happen to us! I don't know if we'll beat all those Shadows, if we can track down Adachi, or solve any of the other shit that's been happening lately, but I do know this—"

Kanji clenched his fist in front of himself tightly, his eyes burning with the determination of a man who revels in a fight to the bitter end.

"They're not taking me without a fight, damn it! If they wanna put me in a test tube—turn me into a freak experiment—to hell with that!" Kanji growled through tightly gritted teeth. "They have to kill me first! I won't be afraid! And no matter _what _happens, that _ain't_ gonna change!"

Yosuke stared at Kanji, wide-eyed. His sullen expression turned into a wry smile.

"Heh." Yosuke punched his open palm hard. His eyes burned with the same resolve.

"Hell yeah!" Yosuke exclaimed. "We aren't going down without a fight, goddamn it!"

Teddie nodded. "Grrrr! Now I'm really angry! Oh man, I almost _hope_ he reveals our names!"

Chie looked at the determined boys, shaking her head. "You're all crazy…" She said, then smiled.

"But I'm with you! I'll fight to the last—just like a Samurai!"

"Well.. I _do_ admit I'd love to see the look on Adachi's face when he realizes that his threats don't faze us." Naoto said.

Rise nodded. "You know… before I really thought it was hopeless… but It's strange. Right now, I feel like it doesn't matter what happens. As long as we have each other."

She put her hand on Yukiko's shoulder.

"We're invincible." Rise said, nodding.

Dojima scratched his head.

"Gods from the TV world… serial kidnappers and killers… monsters… the Japanese government… you guys'll take on anyone, won't you?" He said.

Yosuke grinned. "You have to blame it on your nephew. We got our attitude from him."

"Is that right…?" Dojima said, nodding. "Well, he's taught us _all_ a thing or two, hasn't he…?"

Dojima suddenly got a call.

"Eh?" He said, and picked it up.

"Dojima here." He grunted. "Huh? Senpai?"

"Ryotaro-kun—" His old friend answered on the other line. "Can't talk for long. Meet me where I found you after Chisato's accident." He hung up. Dojima had a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong, Dojima-san?" Yosuke asked. Dojima shook his head.

"I dunno." He said as he put his coat on. "It was my old contact who gave me the information about Kirijo before—it sounded like he had some new information… but something seemed off… I'm gonna go. Take care of yourselves, y'hear?"

Dojima left.

Yosuke and Chie looked at each other.

"Where he found me after Chisato's accident…?" Dojima said to himself as he got into his car and started it. He pulled out of the parking lot, into the street.

"He'd only say something like that if…" He gritted his teeth.

"Someone is after him…"

Dojima pushed down slightly on the gas. After a few minutes he found himself on the quiet country road overlooking the Samegawa river. He saw a man standing alone on the banks, and pulled to a stop.

"Tetsuharu-San!" Dojima called as he made his way down to the bank.

"Ryotaro-kun." His senpai answered with a nod. "Ah, you remembered. Good."

"Why wouldn't I remember? You found me here crying like a damn fool after I ran out of the office…"

Dojima answered with a wry smile.

"Ryotaro-kun." His senpai said sternly. "I may not have much time left. They've been tracking me. My phone's been tapped, and my every move has been on surveillance. I think I was able to shake whoever was tailing me when I came here but—"

"Is it Kirijo's people? Or the Naicho maybe?" Dojima asked.

"I don't know. But it definitely isn't the Naicho." Tetsuharu answered. "These aren't the Naicho's methods… but listen, I went against my gut instinct the other day, and looked into this Kirijo business again. It turns out, they have connections to the terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for the jailbreak. Neo Strega."

"What?" Dojima said. "So then…?"

"Listen carefully. Three years ago, Kirijo's twisted experiments resulted in something incredible—something that would revolutionize the field of psychology, quantum physics—maybe even religion… They discovered the power that that Adachi recklessly showed off in that video. The power of Persona."

"Persona…" Dojima said to himself.

"Yes… though the records indicate that all of their test subjects died, in reality three survived. The only names that were on the record were Takaya, Jin, and Chidori. No family, no address… The three of them were part of an organization secretly ran and funded by the Kirijo Group—Strega.

"Strega?" Dojima exclaimed.

"The predecessors of Neo Strega." Tetsuharu said.

"Damn it." Dojima said. "We might know more, but we're still at square one. We've gotta track down Adachi! If only we could track down those three original Strega members.."

"They're all dead." Tetsuharu said. "However, I was able to pull up information about another group of Persona users… some group called SEES… Listen…" He took out a card with a phone number harshly scribbled on it.

"This is the number of my contact. She calls herself 'Ellie'. Use her to find out more about this Strega, and SEES… they're our key to tracking down Adachi."

Tetsuharu handed him the card.

Suddenly a strange, thick fog began to blanket the area. Slow clapping echoed above them.

"Well done!" A familiar voice said.

"My two senpai. Brilliant as ever."

Adachi walked toward the two men.

"Adachi!" Dojima exclaimed, reaching for his gun. Adachi held up a finger.

"Ah ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Tetsuharu put his hand on Dojima's shoulder, stopping him.

"Tch-!" Dojima eyed the two punks that flanked his sides. They had appeared sometime as the fog began to cover the area.

"These are some friends of mine." Adachi said. "You'd be happy to know that a couple weeks ago, they were just normal, useless crackhead scum. But once they had a dose of our new miracle drug, they joined the Persona club! Or should I say, Neo Strega? Haha!"

"What…?" Dojima exclaimed.

"So, is this what the Nanjo Group cooked up…?" Tetsuharu said. Adachi nodded, surprised.

"You're pretty well informed, aren't ya?" Adachi said. "You should be. We've been watching you snoop around for quite some time."

"So you're the one who's been watching me!" Tetsuharu said.

"Bingo! You're 3 for 4 today!" Adachi said.

"However you missed out on one crucial tidbit I thought I'd reveal to you before I took you out—SEES and Strega… they're sisters."

"Sisters..?" Dojima asked. Adachi nodded.

"They were both ran and funded by the Kirijo Group! Thing is, Strega was their secret project. They were the rejects, y'know? SEES was the favorite child you see. They were perfect. The ultimate Persona users. Until of course _your_ brats came into the picture."

"SEES and Strega… were connected?" Dojima exclaimed. "What the hell? And what do you mean? Yosuke and the others? They're more perfect?"

Adachi cackled.

"Yup." His smile faded into a sorrowful expression. "Dojima-san… I'm sorry Tetsuharu-senpai had to drag you here. I didn't want to have to take you out as well… I wanted to thank you. For calling the stretcher before. Heh. That was… that was very kind of you."

"Damn you Adachi.." Dojima said. "You were like a little brother to me—you acted like an idiot sometimes but you were a good man and a damn talented cop. Why did you have to do all this?"

Adachi looked at the ground quietly.

"…Thank you, Dojima-san. I promise to make yours quick."

"You're a damned fool, Adachi." Dojima said. "I'm not as ill-informed as you think. I know you can't summon your Persona before midnight."

Adachi's eyes widened. "Huh? You knew…? How…" Adachi suddenly smiled, nodding.

"I get it. The Shirogane bitch, right? She's a smart one."

Dojima took out his gun. "Yeah. Sorry. Come with me quietly and I'll do my best to speak on your behalf."

Adachi grinned.

"Some strange weather we're having, eh?" He said, looking around the fog.

"Adachi!" Dojima yelled, pointing his gun.

"Wait, Ryotaru-kun!" Tetsuharu exclaimed. The two punks began to howl in agony. Above them two malformed shadows materialized.

"What! Personas? What the hell?" Dojima exclaimed.

"Presenting Neo Strega's latest invention!" Adachi said. "Within this fog, Personas can be summoned outside of their time limit! Amazing isn't it? Arghh!"

Magatsu Izanagi appeared above him.

"Adachi!" Dojima yelled again, firing his gun. Magatsu Izanagi rushed forward, deflecting the bullets with quick, deft slashes of his naginata.

It rushed forward again, thrusting his blade into Tetsuharu's chest.

"Arghhh!" Tetsuharu cried, then fell to his knees. "R-run, Ryotaru…" He said, before collapsing.

"Senpai!" Dojima exclaimed, then looked back at Adachi.

"You bastard!"

"Dojima-san!" A voice yelled from above him. It was Yosuke.

Yosuke leapt down, sliding down the hill overlooking the bank and ran for Dojima.

"Yosuke? Watch out! Adachi is-!" Dojima was suddenly struck from behind by one of the punks' Personas. He was hurled forward into the rocky bank, landing in a heap.

"Dojima!" Yosuke exclaimed. One of the malformed, twisted shadows surged in front of Yosuke, making an attack with his clawed arm. Yosuke jumped to the side, narrowly dodging the attack.

"You stupid brat!" Adachi yelled. "I'll teach you for interfering with adults!"

"A Persona?" Yosuke exclaimed. "Now? But how-?"

"I-it's the fog… it lets them summon theirs…" Dojima said, weakly.

"The fog?" Yosuke exclaimed.

The twisted Persona rushed forward again.

"Damn it!" Yosuke cried, "I'm not letting some half-baked Persona take me out!"

A single glowing, blue card descended in front of Yosuke.

"Susano-o!" Yosuke cried, crushing the card. A blue whorl of light engulfed Yosuke as Susano-O, Yosuke's ultimate Persona appeared, intercepting the attack.

With one deft slash the 'fake' Persona was hacked in two, causing the punk who summoned it to collapse.

The other fake Persona rushed forward, its writhing, twisted black form lunging at Susano-O with its fist. Susano-O rushed forward, the circular saw around it spinning and cutting the enemy effortlessly.

Yosuke ran to Dojima's side.

"Are you alright, Dojima-san?" He cried. Dojima got on one knee, holding his arm.

"Yeah, he said. Just get Adachi!" Dojima exclaimed.

"Die, brat!" Adachi cried as Magatsu Izanagi rushed forward.

"Adachi!" Yosuke exclaimed. Susano-O intercepted it, his giant, whirling circular saw clashing with Magatsu Izanagi's naginata. Sparks flew in every direction as the two clashed again and again furiously.

Susano-O leapt up through the circular saw into the air, hurling a volley of kunai knives at Magatsu Izanagi which rained down on it like a thousand arrows.

Quickly Magatsu Izanagi knocked the circular saw back, then leapt backwards just in time to dodge the first wave of raining kunai knives. It twirled its naginata above itself, deflecting the rest of the knives.

The deflected knives bounced off the naginata's blade and rained around Magatsu Izanagi and landed blade-down in the rocky bank.

It then reared back and charged up a ferocious Bufudyne attack which struck Susano-O directly.

Yosuke's Persona cried out, and landed on the ground on one knee.

"Argh!" Yosuke cried. "D-damn it!"

"You're done for, punk!" Adachi cried as Magatsu Izanagi prepared one more devastating blow with his backhanded naginata.

Suddenly, another Persona tore through the fog, landing a single, overwhelming kick to Magatsu Izanagi's head. Suzuka Gongen bounced off, somersaulting once in the air before landing perfectly on the river's rocky banks.

Chie ran in after it. "Yosuke! Dojima-san! Are you guys alright?" She exclaimed.

"Chie!" Yosuke yelled back.

"Tch…" Adachi growled. He looked up. "The fog is beginning to fade… Heh. Looks like I'll have to cut this short…" He turned around. "Ja ne!"

He disappeared into the fog.

Chie and Yosuke called back their Personas.

"Damn it! I'll go after him!" Yosuke said, beginning to run when Chie stopped him.

"Wait, Yosuke!" She said. She looked at Dojima, who had collapsed beside them. "We need to help Dojima-san first…"

"Damn that Adachi!" Yosuke exclaimed. "A-alright.. A diarama should do the trick… We gotta tell the others about this, ASAP!"

Chie and Yosuke helped Dojima to his feet.


	11. Piece Onze: Unavoidable Battle Pt 1

_**Piece Onze – The Unavoidable Battle (Part One)**_

_**

* * *

**_

[June 13th 2012. One more day until the next Full Moon..]

Aigis sat on her calves, kneeling on the floor of Yukari's room. She was hugging a giant Jack Frost plush. She looked up at Yukari, who was sitting at her desk.

"Something about Souji makes me feel the same way Minato used to." Yukari said, smiling at her desk.

"I don't know what it is… maybe it's his eyes…? Sometimes he stares at me, and I instantly feel… Oh gosh." Yukari paused, laughing at herself. "Listen to me go on and on… y'know, it's funny. Over the years, you've become like a sister to me, Aigis."

Aigis nodded.

"I'm just happy to see you happy." She replied. "But, as your sister, I feel it is my duty to meet this boy, and vet him first."

Yukari laughed. "Oh Aigis! You guys'll meet him soon enough. I think he'll be ready to soon. But go easy on him, 'kay? He's still in high school…"

Aigis sat up. "High school? I did not know you liked younger boys."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Yukari said, throwing a pillow at Aigis playfully.

* * *

Souji frowned down at his phone.

"Hi." Were the words he was about to mail to Yukiko, whom he hadn't spoken with since his surprise visit to Inaba.

He deleted the letters, then wrote them again, only to delete them one more time.

With Yukiko he felt an incomparable warmth. Infinite comfort. Honest and simple love that was meant to exist and connect them beautifully.

With Yukari he felt true perfection in their kiss; love so intense and undeniable he was sure he was guided to her by Fate, like a ship coaxed gently yet swiftly along by strong, soothing winds.

He looked down at the old shrine charm in his other hand.

And tomorrow, the Moon would be full.

Souji suddenly took his phone and quickly texted a new message.

* * *

Dojima sat on the hospital bed, groaning as he held his throbbing, bandaged head.

"Damn those things can hit…" He said. "How'd you know something was going to happen?" He asked Yosuke and Chie.

"Just a gut instinct." Yosuke said. Dojima chuckled.

"Gut instinct? You've been hanging around me a little too much…"

"Dojima-san," Naoto said, "If you could please, tell us what Tetsuharu-san told you?"

Dojima's smile faded. He nodded.

"Right. It turns out… Neo Strega is the resurgence of a group called 'Strega' which was secretly run and funded by the Kirijo Group. All of the members of 'Strega' are dead, however, they were connected to another group also run and funded by Kirijo—an organization called SEES. They're Persona users also… There's got to be more information on SEES. Tetsuharu-senpai gave me the contact information of the person who's been feeding him information. I'm getting to the bottom of this."

Dojima paused.

"Senpai's death won't be in vain."

"SEES…" Naoto said to herself. "If we can track them down, they'll have answers about Strega. They're our key to tracking down Adachi."

Yosuke nodded.

"For now however," Naoto continued, "We need to prepare. Tomorrow night is the next full moon… we have to be ready, and concentrate on the task at hand."

"Yeah." Yosuke said, "I'll call everyone up tonight and let them know."

* * *

[June 14th, 2012. Okina City Shopping Center, the night of the Full Moon…]

"—and that was 'Reach Out To The Truth' the single from Risette's latest album! You heard it first on KPOP 103! The best and most bumpin' hits from Japan and South Korea! Brought to you by Kirijo Electronics—Kirijo Electronics: Always there when you need them. Midnight is comin' up and—"

"How 'bout that Risette?" A teen asked his friend as they lit up a cigarette outside one of the local arcades. His friend shrugged.

"I'd tap it. I like her. She's one of those idols from that agency that _doesn't_ seem like a complete and total fake."

"Totally agree there."

"Hey, it's getting pretty late. We better bounce soon."

"Yeah—"

A strange fog crept into the area.

"Hm…?"

An unnatural, almost forced silence permeated the fog, so oppressive and heavy that the blood rushing in their ears was the most audible sound.

"What—what's happening…?" One of the teens asked, oblivious as to why he had suddenly begun to speak in a hushed whisper.

An otherworldly, high pitched laughing echoed throughout the area.

"What the hell was that!"

* * *

"Sense anything you guys?" Yosuke asked. Teddie's nose twitched and crinkled as he sniffed the air again and again.

"Grr… I'm not really getting anything… Wait!" He said suddenly. He sniffed again.

"I smell something! It smells… sweet… hmm… I know this smell from somewhere before…"

"W-what!" Chie exclaimed. "Is it the Shadow?"

"It smells like… Veronica's Secret Perfume… Cherry Blossom Waterfall, Spring '11 issue!" Teddie exclaimed.

Chie blushed.

"W-wha?" She smacked the bear on the back of the head. "I just wanted to smell nice! Is that so wrong? Idiot!"

"Hold on—" Rise said, concentrating hard. Himiko's satellite shaped head turned back and forth. Kanji had inquired once about using Himiko to steal cable, though, Naoto had highly doubted something like that would be feasible, to Kanji's disappointment.

"I'm getting something…" Rise said, "It's definitely a Shadow… but… this reading is too big… there may be more than one!"

"What! Multiple big Shadows?" Yosuke exclaimed.

"It's in the Okina City Shopping Center!" Rise said.

"We should hurry!" Naoto said. Yosuke nodded.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

* * *

Fuuka dismissed her Persona, Juno.

"Found it!" She said. "It's at the Okina City Shopping Center!"

Yukari and Mitsuru looked at each other.

"Okina! No way…" Yukari said.

"Whoa… we better stop it before it tries to take out your guys' school!" Ken said.

Junpei grinned. "Heh. Let's do it already! That other team will be there, too right? We'll beat 'em too!"

"We're not sure if they truly are our enemies…" Mitsuru said. "There's a chance that they'll be cooperative. However, if they prove to be hostile, we'll have the tactical advantage."

"Right." Akihiko said. "They don't know _we're _coming to crash the party."

"It's a party now…?" Yukari said. "Oh boy. They're in trouble then. Nobody parties harder than Junpei…"

Junpei grinned.

"That's right baby! Hehe! Yeah!"

"Let's go, everyone." Aigis said. They all nodded.

"Arf!" Koromaru barked.

* * *

The tension was thick inside the Investigation Team's black van as they headed to Okina City.

"So, what's the plan for tonight's operation?" Kanji asked.

"Right." Yosuke nodded. "The assault team for this one is Chie, Kanji, Yukiko and myself again."

"The rest of you are on support."

"Roger that!" Teddie said.

"Argh," Chie groaned, "I'm so anxious for this fight.. I feel like I can't get there fast enough if we could fly!"

"I'm pretty psyched." Kanji said. "I'm going to set a world record, I'm going to beat that Shadow so fast…"

Yosuke laughed.

"Just don't go and get yourself all messed up again."

"Tch-!" Kanji scoffed.

Rise looked over at Yukiko who hadn't quite been herself the last couple of days. "You alright?" She asked her.

"You've been really quiet lately…"

Yukiko nodded, an offered a weak smile. "Yeah. I'm just trying to focus on tonight's mission."

"Everyone!" Naoto announced, "We're almost there! Please get ready!"

* * *

Akihiko stood on the rooftop parking lot, overlooking the entrance to the shopping center. The chilly night air gently ruffled his feathery white hair.

"This is Akihiko." He said on his communicator. "I've got a visual on the other team. They just pulled in."

"Roger." Mitsuru answered him, in a concealed position with Aigis and Yukari.

"Iori, Amada and Koro-chan, prepare to maneuver to their flank and don't attack until I make the command."

"Got ya!" Junpei said on the other line from his concealed position.

Aigis looked over at Yukari, who was on her phone texting.

"Yukari…" Aigis said. Yukari looked up.

"H-huh? What is it?" Yukari answered. Aigis looked at Yukari's phone.

"Sorry…" Yukari said. "I just got a text… it was… spam."

Yukari looked away.

"You are lying." Aigis said. Yukari pouted.

"Not fair. You were able to tell because you have that facial recognition thing right?"

Aigis shook her head, smiling.

"No. I just know my sister. Please talk to your boyfriend another time."

Yukari smiled, rolling her eyes as she put away her phone.

* * *

"We've arrived Naoto-sama." Yakushiji said as he slowed to a stop in the Okina Shopping Center parking lot.

"Right. Let's begin the operation." Naoto said. "Be careful!"

Yosuke nodded as he put his mask on.

"This'll be cake!" He assured as he opened the back and hopped out of the van. Yukiko, Chie, and Kanji hopped out after him.

"We'll be at the rendezvous point." Naoto said on the communicator as the van pulled away.

"Got it." Yosuke said. He took a deep breath, getting himself accustomed to the environment. It was an uncharacteristically chilly summer night.

"I have a weird feeling about this mission…" Yukiko said with a frown.

"We'll be fine." Chie assured her. The four continued forward through the fog, towards the main shopping area. On either side of them were rows of different shops; clothing boutiques, video stores, even the occasional cigar shop. There was a second floor that could be accessed by escalator, or regular stairs. The stores, understandably, were closed however.

As they made their way through the shopping area however, they encountered a lone girl standing aloof in the middle of the strip. She clung tightly to the loose, azure shawl that was wrapped around her. She turned and stared at the four with her blue eyes.

"H-hello, ma'am." Yosuke said, trying his best to sound heroic.

"Oh…" The girl said. "You're those heroes, aren't you?"

Chie smiled, nodding. She struck a pose. "That's right! The Fist of Burning Justice at your service!"

"Sergeant Badass!" Kanji said, following suit.

"Err…" Yukiko blushed. "Lady Crimson Rose!"

Yosuke looked at her.

"Dang, everyone came up with better names than I did…" Yosuke said. He turned back to the girl. "A-anyways ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the area. It's dangerous here!"

The girl looked at him blankly.

"You're right," She said calmly, her voice droning. "It is dangerous." She turned to face them fully, and cast aside the shawl, revealing the machine gun attached to her forearm. On the opposite arm she sported a red armband prominently bearing the letters 'SEES'

She aimed her gun at Yosuke.

"…For you I mean."

"W-what the hell?" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Don't move a muscle!" A husky, sultry voice from the fog echoed behind them. A crimson haired girl stepped forward through the fog.

Yosuke turned around and drew his kunai knives.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"You'd better drop those!" Another voice echoed, this time from above them. On the second floor, a girl had an arrow cocked back in her bow, aiming at the three.

"Who am I…? That depends on your answer." The redheaded girl said. "Now, who are you? What is your connection to Neo Strega…?"

"Connection? Are you kidding me?" Yosuke exclaimed. "We're out to hunt that bastard down…"

The red headed girl nodded. "As I thought." She motioned for the two girls to lower their weapons.

"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo… I lead an organization called SEES…"

Yosuke's eyes widened.

"SEES? Kirijo…? Then, you're the one?" Yosuke exclaimed. "Why are you asking us what our connection to Neo Strega is? You're the ones who were affiliated with Strega!"

He twirled the kunai on his finger before pointing it threateningly at the girl.

Mitsuru's eyes widened. "W-what?" She exclaimed.

"We're not stupid!" Chie yelled at her. "We know the Kirijo Group was the one responsible for those horrible experiments thirteen years ago!"

"SEES, Kirijo Group and Strega were all working together! Don't deny it!" Kanji added.

"Th-that's—you've got it all wrong!" Mitsuru retorted.

"We won't become some test tube experiment!" Yosuke cried and charged forward at Mitsuru with his kunai knives.

"Stop!" Mitsuru yelled as she quickly drew her rapier and clashed with Yosuke. She dug her high heeled boots into the ground as the boy pushed forward hard, his knives clashing with her rapier.

"Mitsuru!" Yukari exclaimed. She let loose her arrow at Yosuke. Kanji quickly intercepted the arrow, blocking it with his shield just in time. Chie threw a quick crescent kick that knocked Aigis' gun to the side as she fired it.

"Th-they've engaged the enemy! Tch! So much for diplomacy!" Akihiko said as he watched from the rooftop. He tossed his binoculars and headed for the stairs.

"I'm going! Flank team! Engage them from the rear!" Akihiko yelled into his communicator.

"Got it! We're going!" Junpei replied. He nodded to Ken, Fuuka and Koromaru, and ran off.

"W-weren't we supposed to wait for _Mitsuru's_ command?" Ken asked Fuuka.

"Oh, that Junpei!" Fuuka sighed, and chased after Junpei.

Ken looked at Koromaru and shrugged. The Shiba Inu whimpered, tilting his head sideways.

They got up and ran after Fuuka and Junpei.

* * *

Yosuke slashed forward with his kunai knife, clashing hard with Mitsuru's rapier. He twirled the other knife in his left hand, going for another slash, but Mitsuru quickly drew her epee from her side, parrying the attack.

"Grr—you're not going to get your way!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Wait one minute! You have it all wrong!" Mitsuru cried.

"Why should I believe you?" Yosuke said as the two still clashed hard. "Argh!"

Suddenly Yosuke was hit hard from behind by a flash of lightning. With a cry he flew forward and landed on the ground with a thud.

Akihiko ran in.

"Sorry I'm late!" He said.

"W-wait, Akihiko!" Mitsuru exclaimed.

"Yosuke!" Yukiko cried. She ran toward to help him when suddenly the ground in front of her erupted with flames.

"Huh?" She flinched backwards, shielding herself from the heat and turned to see three more attackers bearing the red 'SEES' armband.

"Haha! Now we got 'em!" Junpei said, grinning. Ken brandished his naginata.

"It's all over!" He said. Koromaru bared his teeth, growling. In his mouth was a khukri knife.

"Be careful, everyone. They're strong!" Fuuka cautioned her SEES allies.

Chie looked all around her. There were foes above them, and on either side.

"This isn't good…" She said.

* * *

"I'm at the Okina Shopping Center. Why?" Yukari had written back to Souji's text an hour ago. He had immediately rushed to the train to meet with her.

"I've… I've got to tell her. I've made my decision. Yeah."

Souji nodded to himself. Finally the train pulled to a stop at the Okina Station, the exit of which led up to the Okina Shopping Center.

He stood, fidgeting in front of the doors. He could see her now—her smile. He remembered when he had first met her.

It was on the roof of the Shopping Center's main building. He had taken a part-time job there, and was working late, carrying some boxes up to the storage room. It was by mere whim that he had decided to step out onto the roof for some fresh air, when he saw _her _standing there.

She was basking in the moonlight, her feathery brown hair, at shoulder length, being tousled softly by the gentle breeze. The soft hemline of her skirt danced slightly around mid thigh.

She was holding a gun to her head, and yet, for some odd reason she had the most contented smile on her face.

The train finally pulled to a stop.

Souji sprinted through the slowly opening doors and up the stairs to street level.

* * *

"Now, lay down your weapons. You're surrounded." Mitsuru announced decidedly.

Yosuke gritted his teeth. He looked to Kanji.

"We're going down fighting, right…?" He said to him. Kanji nodded sternly.

Suddenly a familiar black vehicle tore through a chain fence and bounced up over the median. Above it appeared Kamui, who summoned a rain of shining icebergs down upon the SEES team.

"Aghhhh!" Akihiko cried as he shielded himself with his arms.

"Akihiko!" Aigis cried, shooting down the iceberg above him. It exploded into shining bits around them.

Yukari slid down the escalator's rails, quickly drawing a bow from her quiver and firing at another iceberg above Akihiko and the others. She landed gracefully on the ground beside them.

The van skidded to a stop, and Naoto leapt out, followed by Rise and Teddie.

"Are you all alright?" Naoto exclaimed, making her way to Yosuke, Yukiko, Kanji and Chie's side.

"Yeah." Yosuke said.

The SEES team regrouped together in front of the Investigation Team.

They stared each other down, brandishing their weapons silently in the foggy summer night.

Chie looked at the girl with the longbow.

"Wait a minute-!" Chie exclaimed. "Yukari-san?" Chie cried out. She removed her mask.

Yukari's eyes widened.

"W-what? You're… you're one of Souji's friends!" Yukari replied.

Mitsuru turned to Yukari, still holding her rapier and epee to the Investigation Team.

"You know them?" Mitsuru asked.

"W-why are you here?" Yukari exclaimed still drawing her arrow back in her bow, "Why can _you_ summon a Persona?"

"You were with the Kirijo Group this whole time?" Yosuke cried out. He gritted his teeth. "I get it… you were a spy, is that right? You were watching us? Just like what happened with Tetsuharu-san-! You! You'll pay!"

"N-no! It's not like that!" Yukari cried out.

"Save it!" Yukiko cried out suddenly. "How… how could you? How could you lie to him like that…? To Souji-kun!"

She tore off her mask.

"Do you remember me?" Yukiko asked, stepping forward.

Yukari gasped. "You're that girl in red from before… the one who Souji—"

"I won't let you—I won't let you hurt him!" Yukiko cried out tearfully. The blue card that bared the insignia of the Butterfly Mask appeared, glowing in front of her. She crushed it into shards, summoning her Persona, Amaterasu.

"Ahhhh! Amaterasu!" Yukiko cried out.

"Yukiko! Wait!" Rise yelled as Amaterasu summoned a hellish wave of fire towards the SEES team.

"No!" Yukari cried, putting her Evoker to her head and firing. Isis appeared, conjuring up a torrent of wind which absorbed the wall of flames into a tornado which burnt brightly and violently.

"Aughhhh!" Yukiko cried, shielding herself from the inferno.

"S-stop!" Yukari screamed out, shielding herself with her arms as well.

"N-no! I…can't…I won't back down!" Yukiko cried as Amaterasu sent yet another wave of fire into the tornado.

Yukari flinched backwards before Isis countered, intensifying the wind.

"This is getting out of control!" Mitsuru exclaimed over the roar of the devastating inferno tornado. Ashes whirled about the Shopping Center wildly like fireflies in a savage dance.

With one final push, Amaterasu sent another wave of intense fire at Isis, who countered hard with another tornado of violent wind. When the two primal forces of nature collided between them, there was a huge explosion, then everything was quiet.

Yukiko stood in the aftermath, panting, the Investigation Team behind her. Yukari also stood, her chest heaving as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. The SEES team was behind her as well.

"Let's finish this." Yosuke said.

He rushed forward toward Yukari, twirling his kunai knives—Aigis drew her gun and fired a volley towards Yosuke. Kanji then rushed forward, blocking the bullets with his riot shield as Yosuke leapt up, jumping off of Kanji's back and hurled his kunai knives down at Yukari. She drew two arrows from her quiver and fired them both off at once, each of them colliding mid air with the kunai knives.

Meanwhile, Chie ran forward, ducking under Junpei's katana which cut through the air with one quick slash, rolling forward and recovering on one knee. Junpei turned around and held his katana up for another downward slash when Chie planted her hand down on the ground, kicking up from the floor into Junpei's chin, and sending him hurling backwards. He stutter-stepped back before returning with another wild slash of his katana which Chie dodged with a backwards leap. Junpei's katana shined and flashed in the light of the full moon.

Akihiko rushed Chie with a left haymaker, which Chie ducked under with a spin and countered with a spinning heel kick which Akihiko deftly caught in his hand.

"Tch-!" Chie gritted her teeth. Akihiko gave a sly smile.

"So the little girl thinks she knows how to fight, huh?" He said, mocking her.

"I'll show you who can fight!" Chie exclaimed. She jumped up and flipped backwards, kicking up with her free leg, and landed gracefully on one knee. Akihiko side stepped the kick, letting the girl go. He rubbed his nose.

"Not bad!"

Ken thrust forward with his long naginata at Teddie, who caught the blade between his claws. Koromaru leapt up off of Ken's back and thrust forward with the knife he held tightly between his clenched teeth, which Teddie evaded with a wild spin. He slashed forward with his claw, which clashed again and again with Koromaru's knife as the tenacious Shiba Inu leapt and slashed.

Behind them, Aigis and Naoto ran alongside each other, trading shots; Naoto with her shining Peacemaker revolver and Aigis and with her machine gun.

Naoto ducked just in time to dodge a well aimed shot by Aigis—the wall behind her exploded with dust. She rolled behind cover as dust and debris blanketed the area.

"I'm definitely outgunned here…" Naoto said to herself, breathing hard. She looked down at her watch and pressed a small button.

"Right. I only have one chance! Here I go—"

Naoto burst from her cover and flashed her wristwatch, which emitted a painfully bright beam of light that shined like a laser into Aigis' eyes.

"What!" Aigis exclaimed, covering her eyes from the blinding light. Naoto squeezed a few rounds off from her revolver as she ran for another spot to use as cover, which Aigis blocked with one arm before leaping away and dodging the rest.

"Tch-! Just what is she exactly?" Naoto said to herself between breaths as she emptied the shells from the revolver's chamber and clumsily pushed more of the .45 millimeter rounds into it.

Meanwhile, Yosuke sprinted forward, ducking under a quick thrust of Mitsuru's rapier, and picked up his two kunai knives as he rolled. He spun around and leapt forward, clashing back and forth with the rapier as Mitsuru tactfully weaved and struck back with her rapier and epee.

Sparks flew with each clash of the two steel weapons.

Mitsuru parried two well aimed slashes of Yosuke's kunai knives before thrusting forward deftly with her rapier, which Yosuke blocked, holding his kunai knives in an 'x'. The rapier's blade scraped against the knives, sending more sparks flying. The blade grazed Yosuke's cheek, causing a line of blood to trickle down under his left eye.

The two broke off the clash.

"This is just a war of attrition now—" Mitsuru said to herself. "If we don't find a way to end this quickly, we won't have any energy left to fight the Shadows that appeared…"

She turned to Aigis.

"Aigis!" Mitsuru called, "We have no choice! Use your Personas! It ends here!"

"Affirmative!" Aigis replied. She took a wide stance.

"Haaaaah!" Aigis cried out, as a ball of bright light emerged from her heart—its rays cut through the fog like lasers. She hunched forward, taking hold of it, then, arched her back as she pointed her finger to the starry sky. Her slender fingers formed a gun.

"Don't mess with SEES!" Aigis cried, glaring at the Investigation Team.

"Per….so….na!"

From her, the Personae Orpheus, High Pixie, Raskasha, and Pallas Athena emerged together above her.

"N-no way!" Yosuke cried.

"She—she can also summon multiple Personas?" Naoto exclaimed.

"She has the Wild Card ability! Like Senpai!" Rise yelled to the others.

Orpheus strummed his harp, sending sharp sound waves echoing and reverberating up and down the floor and walls. The windows around them warped and shattered.

The Investigation Team flinched backward.

Raskasha brandished his twin blades, and summoned a surge of energy to envelop Pallas Athena. High Pixie then blessed the spear of Pallas Athena, before Athena rushed forward with her spear, which was shining brilliantly gold.

"That attack!" Rise cried, "I-it's so powerful!"

"Th-this is it!" Kanji yelled.

The light of Pallas Athena's spear drew closer—

Suddenly, another Persona appeared, parting the fog in a wide circle as it leapt down from the sky; it parried the fusion attack with one swing of its mighty naginata.

The deflected spear of Pallas Athena struck the floor outside of a shop, exploding on impact. The ground shook and dust and debris flew wildly about.

After a moment, the dust settled.

"What was that?" Aigis exclaimed as Pallas Athena staggered backwards.

Izanagi, the Japanese god of creation twirled his naginata.

From the fog, the Wild Card of Inaba himself, Seta Souji appeared. In his hand were the shards of a crushed blue card.

He glared at the SEES team, still holding his fist. Behind him, Izanagi brandished his naginata, the blade of which flashed brilliantly in the light of the full moon.


	12. Piece Douze: Unavoidable Battle Pt 2

_**Piece Douze – The Unavoidable Battle (Part Two)**_

_**

* * *

**_

"S-souji?" Yukiko cried out. Yukari stood speechless, staring wide-eyed at the boy who stood in the middle of the debris, his Persona behind him basking in the moonlight.

Images flashed in Yukari's mind of the night Minato had first summoned his Persona.

"You-!" Aigis exclaimed, wide eyed.

"Impossible!" Mitsuru said. "How could he have parried a fusion attack like that?"

"Souji?" Yukari cried out suddenly. "But... why...?"

Souji's cold, gray-blue eyes finally met Yukari's gaze. His cold glare faded into a look of utter shock.

"Yukari….? You're…?" Souji stammered.

"She's with the enemy!" Yosuke exclaimed. Souji's voice caught in his throat.

"Enemy…?" He said, his husky voice barely able to escape his mouth. His lips quivered, wanting to speak, but his mind was a snowstorm of questions whipping about too quick to gather together.

Yukari shook her head, speechless.

"N-no… Souji… I—" Yukari's voice broke.

"That's right." Yukiko said. "She was lying to you this whole time. She was just using you so she could spy on us!" She said spitefully. Her voice broke.

Souji looked at Yukiko, her chest was heaving. She was positively fuming.

"And to think she- she-" Yukiko said. She grimaced. The whole scene played over again in her head- she could see the two of them, Souji and Yukari, sitting under the stars at their table at Junes. Her hand running through his silver hair; her lips on his-

"I'll never forgive you!" Yukiko exclaimed.

"Yukiko-" Souji murmured. He looked back to Yukari.

"Is this… Is this true Yukari…?" Souji managed to ask her. Each word almost _hurt_ him to say, like a punch in the gut with each pronounced syllable.

"No!" Yukari cried tearfully. "You've got it all wrong! Souji, please!"

The silver haired boy looked away.

"Mitsuru—" Akihiko said, "There's no time. We need to go to our contingency plan."

Mitsuru nodded. "Shadow elimination team, go after the Shadows. The rest of us will stop them here."

She looked at Yukari.

"Understand?"

"Yukari!" Mitsuru yelled again.

Yukari finally managed to break her gaze from the silver haired boy.

"Y-yeah…" She finally answered. "Right, I… I'm… I'm going—" She backed away slowly.

"Yukari!" Souji suddenly yelled. "Yukari! Wait!" He stepped forward. Aigis sprayed the ground in front of him with her gun. Bits of dust and rocks shot up from the ground as they impacted with bullets.

"You stay away from her!" Aigis exclaimed. Yukari turned and ran in the opposite direction, Akihiko, Junpei and Fuuka following.

"I knew from the first time I saw you that you were dangerous—" Aigis said, aiming her gun at Souji.

"Y-Yukari…" Souji said.

"Save it!" Kanji roared. "You're the dangerous ones! We're takin' you down!"

Mitsuru cut the air in front of her with her rapier.

"If you won't cooperate—then we have no choice!"

Yosuke turned to Souji. "Ready to take them down, Partner?"

"I-I…" Souji stammered. "I have to go after her! …She wouldn't do that to me! I know it."

He ran forward.

"Huh? Hey! Wait!" Yosuke cried after him.

"Stop!" Aigis yelled, aiming her gun at the advancing boy. She shut her eyes.

She could see Yukari's bright smile.

"Something about him," Yukari had said to her before, "…makes me feel the way Minato used to. He makes me feel… warm inside. Have you ever felt that way before, Aigis? To feel _love? _I never thought I'd feel this way ever again…"

"No. I haven't." Aigis had murmured back. Daggers pierced her heart. All these years she never had the heart to tell Yukari, who had grown to accept her like a sister, that she too had felt that warm, glowing feeling inside.

She and Minato _together…_

Souji continued to run forward.

"Stop!" Aigis yelled again, and fired.

A gunshot rang through the air.

Souji stopped in his tracks.

Yukari spun around, and saw him—the boy who showed her how to love again.

Memories of when she first met him flashed in her mind.

"S-stop!" He had yelled to her, that faithful night on the rooftop just above where the battle was taking place. "Think about what you're doing!"

Yukari then opened her eyes, which moved to the hapless boy in the grease stained smock, his arms full of boxes. He had a look of pure panic in his wide, steel-blue eyes.

She had been holding Minato's Evoker to her head.

"Huh?" Yukari said. The silver haired boy put the boxes down slowly. He held up his hands.

"H-how about we talk for a bit…? I could get you a free Happy Dog? Or no! A _deluxe_ Happy Dog! I sort of work at the Happy Burger and—"

Yukari kept watching him silently, one of her eyebrows raised. She could feel a long, hard laugh welling up in her chest from the irony of the entire situation, but chose to keep stringing the boy along for a bit.

The silver haired boy smiled at her for the first time.

"Most people would kill for a free Happy Dog! Err—okay, bad joke…" He said.

She instantly melted. Yukari giggled, despite herself.

She slowly put the Evoker down, and sighed, resigning herself to the smile that wanted to come out since he had hastily offered her a free Happy Dog in exchange for not 'killing herself.'

Souji nodded.

"Yeah. There we go. My name is Souji! Souji Seta." He said with a relieved grin.

Yukari blinked. She was suddenly back in this horrible, unavoidable battle, where, under the same full moon, under the shadow of the same rooftop where they had met, she watched the boy she fell in love with dying.

Souji put his hand to his heart, then looked at his outstretched palm. There was thick, dark red, almost black blood. He fell to the floor.

"SOUJI!" Yukari screamed, running back towards him. Akihiko grabbed her and held her back.

"There's no time! We have to take out the Shadows before the time limit or we won't be able to use our Personas!" He told her. He pulled her away.

"Souji!" She kept screaming, struggling to break away from him. She finally shook his grip and ran back to Souji.

"Damn it-" Akihiko said, and turned and ran towards the rooftop upon which the two Arcana Shadows awaited him. Junpei and Fuuka followed.

Yukari was about to run to Souji's side when she stopped suddenly.

Yukiko ran forward, and bent down to Souji's side. She held Souji in her arms; she gripped his bloody hand.

"S-souji! Please! Don't—" She gasped between panicked sobs.

Souji looked up at Yukiko peacefully with his ashen blue eyes. They carried the same hue the sky did on those sleepy, cloudy winter mornings.

"Yukiko-chan…" He said softly. He gave a slight chuckle. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm... so sorry for the other night—I wanted to tell you…"

Yukiko covered her mouth with her hand, choking back her sobs.

"I-I still—I still…" He said, struggling. His voice grew weaker and weaker until it was barely an audible whisper in the chilly summer night.

Yukiko shook her head. Her face twisted as tears fell freely from those beautiful shining eyes of hers. Deep, intense molasses. And it was leaking from her eyes in the form of cold tears.

"Don't-!" She cried. Yukari watched on silently.

"I still love you so much. You know that… don't you? ….I- I love you." He finished. Yukari put her hand to her chest. She felt as if she herself had been the one shot through the heart.

"I know! I know!" Yukiko cried. "I-I…"

Souji smiled. His eyelids fell slowly, and he was still. His hand went limp in hers.

Yukari watched, speechless.

"Souji..?" Yukiko said quietly. "Souji…! Wake up! Please!" She cried.

The blue card with the butterfly mask fell in front of her, and she crushed it with her fan. Her tears fell on his still face.

"Souji! Get up!" She cried again and again, as Amaterasu casted every healing spell it could muster.

"I...I never got to tell you…" Yukiko said softly. "I love you too."

She buried her face in his chest.

The Investigation Team watched on silently, in tearful shock.

"This—this can't be happening…" Yosuke said.

Aigis fell to her knees.

She recalled the day Minato had faded away to a peaceful sleep in her arms the same way—how she held his still hand in hers as he closed his eyes for one last time.

The world around her blurred as tears welled up in Yukari's wide, hazel-brown eyes. She stared at the lifeless silver haired boy on the ground in front of her, then looked at Aigis.

Aigis returned Yukari's blank gaze.

"Yukari! I'm so sorry-!" Aigis cried out to her. Yukari wasn't listening.

In her eyes, like Minato before him, Aigis had once again robbed her of her last moments with the boy she loved.

* * *

A/N: Oh my! GxG has reached 1k+ views already in the month of February. Hey! That's big news for me! I've had this account 2 years and only posted about 3 other fics beside this one, and barely got one or two reviews between them. I guess it makes sense, seeing as how this is the first story I put 100% effort in! xD

Anyways, thank you for reading, and for the reviews! Please continue to bear with me! As of 2.10.11 Chapitre I has been completed, and Chapitre II is in the works. Things are about to get even more screwed up. xD


	13. Piece Treize: The Myriad Truth

_**Piece Treize – The Myriad Truth**_

_**

* * *

**_

The room was a deep indigo. He could hear faint singing in the background, yet, no one around him was singing.

No one was speaking, and yet in his heart he could understand the words—

"_Life is truth, and never a dream...  
All souls know this from birth...  
The truth is something that is chosen  
and grasped...Sometimes discovered with  
one's vision and will…"_

"…Welcome." A familiar voice said. "It's so nice to see you again."

Igor bowed slightly.

Souji stood up.

"W-what happened? Where are the others-?" He exclaimed.

"Now, now," Igor calmed him. "All is proceeding how it should be."

Souji sat down.

"Should be…? I… I have to get back!" He said. Igor sighed.

"Ah, Time—" Igor said seemingly ignoring the boy. He indicated toward the tall grandfather clock in the corner of the Velvet Room.

"Time is such a precious commodity, isn't it? Hehehe. And yours, my dear, dear boy…."

Souji held his breath.

"…Is not up."

"You mean—" Souji said. Igor nodded with a grin.

"Before I return you to your battle however, there is a power I'd like to bestow upon you."

"Power…?"

"Alas," Igor sighed. "This power, its mysterious origins elude even me—that is why… _He _will show you. That is, if you survive_ his_ test. My, what an intriguing encounter this is shaping up to be!" Igor laughed gleefully.

The door behind Souji opened, and a familiar woman walked in.

"It's good to see you again." She said, smiling at him with her cold, yellow eyes.

"…Margaret." Souji said. He stood up. "This is… _your_ test?" He asked. Margaret shook her head.

"No. I'll just be taking you there. Please," She said, indicating into the foggy darkness that lay past the opened door behind her. "Follow me."

* * *

"There they are!" Fuuka exclaimed. She pointed at the two Arcana shadows who sat upon the roof of the main building of the shopping center.

"We've got to hurry! Who knows how much longer we'll be able to summon our Personas!" Akihiko exclaimed.

"I'll take 'em down quick! Just like old times!" Junpei said with a grin.

The three of them advanced toward the stairs.

The Empress let out a high pitched cackle as she sent a rain of fire down on the three of them.

"Watch out! It's attacking!" Fuuka yelled.

"I got it!" Junpei exclaimed, drawing his Evoker quickly and firing it. Trismegistus appeared, shouldering the brunt of the fire attacks as the three SEES members continued their advance.

Junpei leapt onto Trismegistus' back as Akhiko and Fuuka ascended the stairs towards the roof.

Akihiko went on ahead while Fuuka turned and looked on at the distant battle going on between SEES and the Investigation Team from her position overlooking the Shopping Center.

"Yukari... Everyone..." Fuuka said to herself. "Please be okay."

She turned back and headed up the stairs. When she arrived at the roof, Akihiko and Junpei were already engaging the Shadows.

Akihiko dodged an ice attack by the Empress Shadow.

"Fuuka! I need you to analyze the enemy! None of our attacks seem to be working!" He said. "...It's the exactly the same as the time we engaged them three years ago- these have to be the Emperor and Empress Arcana Shadows!"

"Got it!" Fuuka replied, and drew her Evoker, putting it to her temple. She summoned Juno, and proceeded to scan the enemies.

"I-it's going to take a little bit of time—" Fuuka said. Her voice reverberated up through the floor. She sounded almost as if she was underwater.

Junpei scoffed, ducking an attack by the Emperor.

"Well by all means, take your time!" He said.

* * *

Yosuke cried out as Susano-O took a hard blow to the chest by Pallas Athena.

"Damn it!" He said.

Rokuten Maoh rushed Aigis from her flank, but she summoned Sigfreud in time to parry his attack. Sigfreud parried the attack with his shield, then swung with his sword back at Rokuten Maoh. The ground shook as Rokuten Maoh fell backward onto the floor. Dust kicked up all around him.

"No way!" Kanji exclaimed.

Chie turned to see Rokuten Maoh on the ground, then looked back at Aigis. Aigis had a determined glare aimed at her.

The glowing blue Butterfly Mask card fell in front of Chie and she crushed it with a spinning heel kick. Suzuka Gongen appeared above her and rushed Aigis as well, only to be thwarted by Sigfreud, who parried Suzuka Gongen's fierce dual sided energy naginata with his shield, leaving Suzuka Gongen open. Aigis capitalized on this opening, summoning forth Pallas Athena who struck forward at Suzuka Gongen from the side.

Suzuka Gongen let out a pained cry.

"It's no good!" Naoto said. "We might stand a chance if they didn't have that Wild Card on their side—"

Yukiko still sat by Souji's side, her face buried in his chest.

Yosuke turned to look at her.

"We—we have to retreat…" Yosuke said glumly. He grimaced. "We're not going to last much longer-"

* * *

The world around them was mired in fog.

"This place…" Souji said to himself.

They soon found themselves in front of a grand, golden door. On its worn surface were countless eyes, all moving and twitching about; looking in every direction. Margaret stopped in front of it, and looked up reverently.

On the door, a statue of a crucified boy hung, bound tightly to the door in a tangled mass of spiny barbed wire.

Margaret turned around.

"Are you ready?" She asked with a smile.

Souji stood still, his mouth agape as he looked up at the door and the great statue.

"…Ready for what...? What is this place? Who is that?" He asked, finally averting is awe filled gaze from the statue to Margaret. She only offered a sly smirk.

"Do your best—" She said, ignoring his question.

The ground rumbled suddenly.

"Huh?" Souji exclaimed, wheeling around. To his horror, a massive black hand reached up through the mist and smashed the ground in front of it.

"What the?" Souji drew back.

A gargantuan head, black as the darkest Shadow followed after the hand, eyeing Souji with its glowing red eyes. Fog seeped from them like noxious tears.

"Tch-!" Souji gritted his teeth, drawing back. He turned to Margaret.

"I have to beat that?" He asked Margaret, but she had gone. He looked again to the creature, which let out an earth shattering roar. Thick, sticky strands of poisonous spittle flew from its mouth, which was full of sharp, jagged teeth.

"Ah-!" Souji flinched back.

The creature suddenly spoke.

"You who also possess the ability of the Wild Card—" It said, "Whose power presides over Truth—do you know what I am?"

Souji steeled himself, gritting his teeth. The creature let out a sinister laugh.

"I am Humanity's true desires. Come. Test your will."

It reached forward with its giant, black hand, smashing the ground in front of Souji.

"Persona!" Souji cried out, reaching out for the blue card that appeared in front of him and crushed it.

Izanagi appeared, and rushed forward, slashing at the creature with its naginata. The creature roared as it was slashed again and again, then reached forward with its hand, crushing Izanagi.

Izanagi drew backwards, subdued.

Souji looked back at Izanagi as it shattered.

"Tch-! Persona!" Souji cried out again. Yoshitsune appeared above him. It slashed forward at the mist around it, as a wave of energy enveloped it.

The creature reached forward at Yoshitsune.

"Hyaaah!" Souji cried out, as Yoshitsune charged forward with a mighty slash of its katana.

The creature flinched as it endured Yoshitsune's mighty slashes, however it soon reached forward and swung at Yoshitsune. The katana, and Yoshitsune himself soon after, shattered to bits and disappeared.

"W-what…?" Souji gasped.

The creature let out another ground shaking roar which brought Souji to one knee.

"Ugh!" He cried. "I can't—I won't lose here!"

He stood up.

"Ahhhh!" Souji cried out as he crushed the Butterfly Mask card again. The Persona Trumpeter descended above him.

It sounded its mighty trumpet twice—one blare of its trumpet summoning a wave of empowering energy onto itself, and another, a wave of debilitating energy upon the creature.

"Go! Trumpeter!" Souji cried. Trumpeter summoned a ball of light to fall upon the creature.

It was engulfed in a blinding light; an explosion which parted the mist all around them in every direction.

Souji panted.

When the dust cleared, the creature reappeared, unharmed. It lashed forward with its claws, shattering Trumpeter to bits.

Souji fell to his knees. His sword clattered to the floor.

"It's futile." The creature said. "I cannot be vanquished so long as Humanity retains free will."

"W-what are you talking about?" Souji cried, "What _are_ you?"

The creature laughed.

"I told you… I am what Humanity secretly desires. I am the incarnation of Humanity's desire to end itself."

"What..? End itself…?" Souji asked.

"Since the dawn of Time; Man has sought to destroy himself. Man has sought Death, and the End."

"N-no! That's not true!" Souji cried.

"—War, Famine, Poverty, Plague…" The creature continued, "Man brings suffering upon himself."

"How..?"

"Man creates his own Gods. You shall see soon enough. I am Erebus, the incarnation of Humanity's accumulated desire for its own destruction!"

"Humanity's desire…?" Souji asked. The creature let out a sinister laugh.

"Can you feel it? The weight of Humanity's desires-! They're all calling out for the End!"

"No…" Souji said softly.

"All of humanity craves the peace that comes with death! An end to suffering!"

"No!" Souji cried louder. "That can't be true!"

A faint light began to shine in his pocket.

Souji struggled to his feet, his steel-blue eyes suddenly burning brightly with resolve.

"Hm?" The creature said. "You still defy me, facing the truth in front of you?"

"No—I refuse to believe that." Souji said. The light began to grow stronger. "I'll show you! Humanity isn't devoid of Hope! It isn't bound to one fate—we don't have to choose You! We don't have to choose the End! The world can change!"

"Fool!" The creature cried. "You're deluding yourself!"

Souji shook his head. The light in Souji's pocket began to grow stronger and more brilliantly bright.

"I choose to believe in a bright Tomorrow!"

The ball of light came out from Souji's pocket.

"This is?" The creature exclaimed.

Souji reached forward for the ball of light.

"We'll fight for Hope! _That's_ the truth!" Souji cried. He crushed the ball of light into his hand, and he was enveloped in the blinding light.

Above him, on the still, lifeless face of the crucified statue, a crack appeared under the boy's eye.

Izanagi appeared above Souji again. Izanagi let out a fierce roar, as he was engulfed in another blinding light. The long, flowing black overcoat Izanagi wore about his frame turned white, and with it, his entire attire, which became an immaculate white as well, with shining gold trim. Izanagi held his worn, tattered naginata in front of him, and it too shined as it transformed- becoming a stainless steel blade that was more great sword than spear. Circling the weapon's grip was a great golden ring.

Souji held out his arms as he levitated upward, coming together with his transformed Persona, Izanagi-No-Okami. They became one powerful entity, both physically and spiritually.

"Thou art I… and I am thou! It brings thee closer to the Truth!" They exclaimed together.

Back at the Velvet Room, Igor stood up, his mouth agape. He suddenly began to clap.

"Ahahaha!" He laughed heartily. "I never thought I'd see it happen! A Persona and its user fusing into one ultimate being! What a truly remarkable guest! Amazing! Splendid!"

"Foolish human—" The creature said. "You cannot reject me! I am the Truth!"

"No—" Souji, from within Izanagi-No-Okami said. He twirled his naginata. "Humanity will move forward and forge its own Truth! One full of Hope!"

The blade of the naginata shined brilliantly as Souji, as Izanagi-No-Okami cut through the mist in front of him.

Erebus reached forward for Souji, aiming to crush him with his hand, but he burst forward, piercing through the hand with his naginata—the hand burst into black mist.

Souji-Izanagi-No-Okami continued forward, and with a heartfelt cry held his blade in front of him; the golden ring around the weapon began to glow brilliantly.

"This is my oath to guide humanity to a brighter future! This-!" Souji cried, "Is the Myriad Truth!"

A beam of light burst forth from the golden ring, surging forward and consuming Erebus in its almighty light.

Erebus cried out, consumed in the light.

It retreated backwards into the misty abyss from whence it came with one more, horrifying roar.

Izanagi-No-Okami regained its original form.

Souji and Izanagi then split apart; and Souji fell to one knee, breathing hard.

The world around him began to fade away.

* * *

Yukari watched as slowly the Investigation Team were beaten back by Aigis' Personae, with the help of Mitsuru, Koromaru and Ken.

"S-stop this! Please stop fighting!" She cried out.

"You'll fall by my hand!" Mitsuru cried out as Artemisia prepared one last final blow to the Investigation Team.

Kanji held his side, his chest heaving as he panted. He gave a tired smile.

"Heh." He said, "I gave it all I got- at least I got no regrets."

Susano-O fell backwards, falling to the ground beside Yosuke, and shattered. Yosuke fell to his knees in front of Aigis.

"Were we really this helpless...?" He murmured to himself, facing the floor.

Yukiko held Souji tightly.

"Souji—" She said weakly.

Suddenly a faint light shined from Souji's heart.

"Huh…?" Yukiko said, her tearful eyes widening.

"What is that…?" Mitsuru said. Aigis' eyes widened.

"He's-!"

Souji's eyes opened slowly.

"Souji?" She exclaimed tearfully. "Souji!"

He reached up and put his hand on Yukiko's soft, tear stained cheek.

"Hey—" He said softly. He slowly got to his feet. Yukiko looked up at him, speechless.

"Sensei?" Teddie exclaimed.

"Wha-!" Yosuke gasped, his eyes wide.

"Rise—" Souji said firmly. Rise straightened up.

"Y-yeah?" She answered, wiping her tears away.

"Scan the enemy." Souji said calmly.

"R-right—" She said.

Mitsuru gritted her teeth.

"Everyone!" She exclaimed. "Use Full Assault Tactics! Don't let the enemy finish their scan!"

"R-roger that!" Ken said. Ken, Mitsuru, and Koromaru all rushed towards Souji.

Souji held his hand forward and swiftly moved it across in a line. Four cards appeared in front of him, each bearing the mark of the Butterfly Mask. They glowed an ethereal blue.

Ken struck forward at Souji with his spear. Kanji rushed forward, blocking with his shield. He turned to Souji and smirked.

"I'll hold em' off! You do what you gotta do, Sempai!" He said.

Koromaru rushed forward as well, leaping up at Souji. Teddie threw himself in front of his Sensei, blocking the attack with his claw.

"Rawr! I'll help too!" Teddie said with a determined nod.

Mitsuru sprinted forward.

"Oh no you don't!" Yosuke cried out, mustering the last of his strength to make one last desperate block with his knives.

"The analysis is complete!" Rise exclaimed, "He's weak to Darkness!"

Souji crushed the first card on the left—above him appeared the Persona, Beezelbub. The freakish, grotesque demon that presided over Hell itself as Lucifer's right hand stared down at Ken with its massive, piercing red eyes. With a wave of its scepter it engulfed Ken in black flame. In front of Ken a black glyph appeared.

"Ahhhhh!" Ken cried as he fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Ken!" Mitsuru cried out. Koromaru charged forward, gripping its khukri knife tightly in his clenched teeth.

Souji reached for the next glowing blue card, and crushed it. Above him the Persona Sraosha appeared, and cast a spell of light on Koromaru.

Koromaru whimpered, watching as he was surrounded instantly by countless holy talismans. He was engulfed in a bright light and fell over. His knife clattered to the ground.

"H-how…? How can you also be a Wild Card?" Mitsuru exclaimed.

Yukari fell to her knees, speechless.

"Why…?" She cried weakly. "Why is this happening? Why do you have _his_ ability?" She yelled out. "Why? Just _who_ are you?"

Souji reached for a third card, looking to Mitsuru.

"She's weak to fire!" Rise exclaimed. Souji crushed the card, and summoned the Persona of the Sun Arcana, Asura.

Mitsuru was engulfed in a blazing inferno. She fell in a heap on the floor.

"No—stop!" Aigis cried out suddenly.

Souji glared at her, silently.

"I'll end this—I'll be the one to defeat you!" She exclaimed. A whorl of blue energy engulfed her once again, as a bright light shined from within her chest. She hunched over, then, took the ball of light in her hand, and pointed to the sky, her fingers forming a gun.

"Hahhhh-!"

* * *

The Emperor and Empress Shadows fell to a heap on the floor, bursting into black ooze that seemingly evaporated into the night.

A single golden key fell to the ground.

"Phew—" Junpei said, wiping his brow. "That definitely shook off the rust… Thanks for the help, Fuuka!"

Akihiko bent down to pick up the key.

"As we suspected—" He said. "They dropped another one. Well. It's ours now. I'll report to Mitsuru and the others—"

"This power!" Fuuka exclaimed suddenly. "Aigis and someone else—their power is incredible!"

Akihiko turned to Fuuka. "What?"

Junpei looked around.

"Hey—where's Yuka-tan…?"

"Oh no!" Akihiko said, "We gotta hurry and get back to the others!"

* * *

Yukari recalled once more the night she and Souji had first met.

"I can tell you're just a kid…" She had told him, after he introduced himself. "Look—just mind your own business. I'm really more trouble than I'm worth, so just leave me alone, okay?"

Souji shook his head, smiling still.

"If a pretty girl decides to kill herself during my shift, then it sort of _is_ my business."

Yukari laughed. She sighed.

"Okay… I guess I won't do that to you. I suppose it _would_ be kind of a mess, wouldn't it…? Cleaning up my splattered brains and all."

Souji nodded. "The noodle shop next door took our mop so…"

Yukari gave him another warm smile.

"I'm Yukari. Yukari Takeba." She had finally said.

Yukari blinked, returning once more to this horrible, knock down, dragged out fight to the death. Tears blurred her vision as she watched the boy she loved cross blades with the girl she loved like a true sister.

"Haaaaah! Persona!" Souji exclaimed, reaching out and crushing the last, glowing blue card in his fist.

Izanagi appeared above him.

Yukari rushed to her feet. "STOP IT!" She screamed to the two, to no avail.

Pallas Athena and Orpheus appeared above Aigis, preparing another fusion attack. Pallas Athena's spear shined once again as she rushed forward.

"Thou art I… I am Thou!" Izanagi and Souji cried out together. The two combined once more.

The exhausted members of the Investigation Team looked on, shocked.

"He- he combined with his Persona...?" Yosuke murmured as he watched on in awe.

"S-sensei!" Teddie said, shaking. "Sensei is- he's amazing!"

"No! Please!" Yukari cried out once more as Souji, as Izanagi and Pallas Athena prepared one final, ultimate attack.

Yukari threw herself between them.

"Stop!" She screamed.

"Yukari stop!" Akihiko cried as he ran to her, but he was too late.

Souji Izanagi and Pallas Athena met; spear to naginata.

A great, deafening explosion parted the fog around them once more in a wide circle. The earth shook, and both the SEES team and the Investigation Team were engulfed in a blinding light.

* * *

A/N: Phew. We finally got here. SEES and the IT have finally met in battle. There were some times when writing this where I wasn't sure I'd be able to figure out a decent reason for them to fight, because 99% of the time if the two encountered one another, they'd probably work together. But the main premise I had for this fic starting out was that I basically wanted to put Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Persona 3, and Persona 4 in giant catapults and just hurl them at one another. The problem was, figuring out a way to trick SEES and the IT into fighting. (Muahaha. Felt very villainous when I finally got it though.)

I had stopped writing for about a week, racking my mind as to why they would fight each other, and I think I came up with a passable reason, which will be explained more in depth in the upcoming chapters.

Anyways, thank you for the kind reviews and advice—well actually, thank you for just plain reading the fic up to now! Cheers!

~Kira

A/N 2: Wow! 2k more hits in the span of one day! So not used to this... I will try not to disappoint everyone! Try not to burn your breads. O.o


	14. Bonus: Kira and SEES Answer Your Reviews

_**Bonus Piece: Kira and the SEES Gang Answer Your Reviews!**_

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* * *

**_

"Aigis." Yukari called from the kitchen. "Um, I think it's time already…"

The blonde haired girl looked up. She had been sitting and staring at the wall for what seemed to be hours. (Yukari would later find out that Aigis was analyzing a pattern in the chestnut paneled walls which she had found mathematically intriguing.)

"Right. I'll go get him." Aigis said.

In a remote room in the corner of the girls' dorm, a boy lay in his bed, oblivious to the world between his high quality Beats headphones. He still wore his worn red Inverse shoes, and parts of his ruffled black hair stuck up stubbornly past the band of his headphones.

Aigis knocked on the door.

"Author-sama." Aigis called. She knocked again. "Um, it's time—"

Yukari called her from downstairs.

"Hey! Hurry it up!"

Aigis sighed. She opened the door. She could hear his loud music blaring in her ears from where she stood.

Kira was biting his lip as he banged his head. His feet tapped to the quick beat of the song, which was a Trance remix to some RPG game or some such.

Aigis shook her head ashamedly. She quietly took an auxiliary cord, plugged it into a console on her forearm, and plugged the other end into his mp3 player.

After a moment, the boy let out a surprised yell.

"WAAAH! WHAT THE FU-!" he kicked his feet about wildly as he scrambled to remove his headphones, smashing his head on the headboard as he did so, and fell on the floor.

Aigis removed the auxiliary cord from her forearm and dropped it.

"Oh good, you're up." She said. "You are needed downstairs."

Aigis turned and promptly left.

Kira sighed, rubbing his head profusely.

"Stupid android—" He muttered.

"I heard that." Aigis called from the hallway.

"Stupid android." Kira whispered under his breath.

"Still heard it." Aigis called from even farther away.

Kira trudged down the stairs, groaning.

"There he is—" Yukari said cheerfully, hearing his heavy footsteps on the stairs. She held an un-bitten cupcake in her hand. It seemed as if she was debating as to whether or not she should actually eat it. She looked over at the TV.

Risette was frolicking under a water fountain, wearing a string bikini.

"Who has time for a diet—"

Yukari groaned, and put the cupcake back in the fridge. Kira plopped himself down on the couch.

"Okay… where are they?" He asked.

Koromaru trotted up to the boy happily. He was holding an envelope in his mouth. He dropped it in front of him and sat, panting.

"Whaa-? Only one review after all this time!" Kira exclaimed tearfully.

Aigis came up behind him.

"There are more." She announced in her monotonous drone, and tossed a sack of envelopes at his head.

"Doof-!" Kira grunted.

He sighed.

"Alright! Let's do this!" He picked up an envelope and opened it. He read the letter.

"NavyBlack writes, '_Actually pretty good. The first chapter being 5k words is always a good sign. The only thing i'd change is how you change scenes. Starting with a line break and describing the new area is always a better alternative to just jumping to it._

_The characters are written convincingly as well. Seems exactly like something that could happen in the games. Keep up the pace and good work._'"

Kira nodded. "Ah! That's right! There was some excellent advice in this one. As you can see, I took your good advice to heart and applied those changes in the following chapters! As for my characters being convincing—" Kira's bottom lip twitched, as his eyes watered.

"Thaaaaannk you!" He gushed suddenly. "Persona is my favorite game series of all time! Even more so than Final Fantasy! I love all the characters (even the creepy ones like Takaya and Mitsuo… okay maybe not Mitsuo…) so it was very important to me that I portray the characters accurately or else the whole fic would have been pointless."

Yukari nodded. "I agree. We _are_ written pretty convincingly."

Behind her Aigis rode a unicycle while balancing a stick with a spinning plate on it. She cackled manically.

"Oh, oh, read this one! This reader brings up some good points." Yukari said, handing Kira the opened letter.

"Hmm, Forever Intun writes, '_Right, five chapters passed and i am still interested, let´s review this._

_First, as said above, I am liking this whole P3 vs P4 thingy. More so because both groups lack the Persona-roulette-wheel AKA MC(s)._

_Also that their conflict is more or less natural. Sure they have not talked with each other, which they should try in their first confrontation BTW, but right now its understandable._

_The fact that Souji can´t return to Inaba, in this timeframe of the story, while contrived ("Hey mom can I go?" "No") makes sense, so another point for that._

_However the fact that Yosuke is the leader of the Inaba Scoobies should be a little more contested. More importantly by Naoto, since she is rational and she would see herself as the more... prepared for that. Also Yosuke, while not an idiot, is really emotional so there is that too. Remember, Souji is their leader and when you try to change the head, the body will not be completely happy._

_As for the P3 cast, If I am understanding correctly, Chidori wasnt saved right?_

_Yeah the P3 cast is so far "good" since they do have a back up leader (Aegis) and had time to adjust. You should remember that their personas do have elemental weakness unlike those of P4._

_...I think I am giving you more advice than reviewing. Guess I am getting ahead right, hehe, sorry._

_But yeah, I am liking this and I am awaiting for the next chapter~_"

Kira pouted for a bit, thinking.

"First of all! Thank you." Kira said. "Second! 'Inaba Scoobies'—I like that. I can imagine Chie saying something to Teddie like, 'would you do it for a Teddie snack?' To which Teddie would say, 'No! I want a Topsicle.' Or something. Maybe a kiss on the cheek from Yukiko."

Kira frowned. "Yeah, that exchange between Souji and his mother _was_ a bit contrived. I didn't really feel like devoting too much time into it, because I wasn't _too _clear on why Souji can't freely move back to Inaba at that point, and it didn't seem to matter." He laughed sheepishly.

"But it was important that he not be able to. As for Chidori, although that could be a fun little way to flesh out Junpei a bit, I wanted to keep as close to Persona canon as possible, and I think in the canon she dies, correct? As for any possible tension between Yosuke and Naoto regarding who should rightfully lead the Investigation Team… hm. I think it's arguable whether something like that would occur. Naoto seems to me like the type who is fine contributing to the team without actually leading it. Yosuke is more of a leader, 'spiritually'. He gives the team 'emotional' direction, (I.e. 'c'mon guys, let's do this! …even though I'm not sure what we're supposed to do!') while Naoto is mostly around to conveniently figure tangible facts and things out that the team couldn't figure out on their own. Still, really good advice! I had forgotten about the SEES team retaining their weaknesses in their Ultimate Personas, which obviously played a part in their battle."

Junpei scoffed.

"They're just lucky I wasn't there to even the playing field!" He said with a nod. Yukari rolled her eyes.

"Not like you don't have any weaknesses… Ice, Girls,_ Logic_…" Yukari continued listing weaknesses.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Eh?" Kira said. "Who could that be?"

Aigis answered the door.

"Heyyy gang!" Adachi said, walking in. Kira looked up.

"Oh. Hey Adachi. What brings you here, to this…err… completely different city and game…? And time frame…?"

Adachi laughed sheepishly.

"Well, I was heading over to someone's house to deliver this anonymous threat when I found this in my mailbox." He gave Kira an envelope. "I think it's supposed to be for you?"

Kira opened it. "Oh, it's another review. It's a good one too. Xoraan writes, '_The last part was certainly cute and funny, poor Yukari :)_

_Not to nag at you, but don't forget to make Yukari have a drastic reaction when she learns of Souji's powers and why he's so similar to Minato. This ought to give her a dilemma between Souji and her team or between Souji and Minato._

_Adachi's escape was very bloody and so were Takaya's experiments. Which disappoints me as I wish they would go straight after their defeats in the actual game story lines._

_Either way this was a very nice chapter and I hope to read another soon.'"_

Kira scratched his head. "Oh man, then you _really_ wouldn't have liked the way the chapter was originally written… I had Adachi basically fight his way out of the prison block by block. While re-re-re-rereading it I decided it really wasn't necessary, and didn't fit his character. I don't think he was that kind of a bloody guy either. But don't worry. I also feel that deep down somewhere there is definitely goodness in Adachi. I like Adachi a lot. To be honest, in my first play-through of P4 I got a little worried when I started to suspect that Adachi was the one who sent the mysterious warning letter to Souji, even though my ace detective intuition was pretty sure it was him."

Kira looked to Adachi. "Right Adachi-baby?"

"Eh…?" Adachi had his head stuck in the fridge. He looked to the group.

"Do you guys have any cabbage…?"

"Who the heck even are you?" Yukari yelled at him.

Kira opened up another envelope. He chuckled.

"Blazehawkins writes, _'Interesting story. I thought Souji would have gone after Mitsuru, but Yukari makes sense as well. Keep it going!'" _

"H-huh…? Me?" Mitsuru said.

"Hm," Kira began, "To be perfectly honest, I really don't see Souji really fitting together well with _any_ of the SEES team… I just liked the Souji x Yukari pairing because Souji and Minato both were Wild Cards, etc. etc. Hahah. Also, I knew from the start I wanted some kind of relationship between someone from the IT and someone from SEES, because it would key up the drama between the two when they finally clashed. Okay! Next one—"

"741852AuthorNicolaStarlaLili—whoa whatta name, writes, '_Wow, fastest update since the "Legendary ToD"!' _Eh? What story is that? To tell you the truth, when I wrote this fic, I was about 5 chapters and 20,000+ words in before I decided to publish. I try to make it a habit to keep at least 3 chapters ahead before I publish a new chapter, so that if I ever get writer's block, I can still update. It's how I manage to put up a new chapter nearly every day! Also, thank you very much for your consistent reviews!"

Kira opened another letter and read it.

"Ikasury writes '_i could kiss you... you obviously know your SMT stuff, to be pulling things out like the old Nanjo group from the original persona... HA! XD that just gave me a kick...  
plus all the little other drops... i'm have tempted to ask if the Kuzunoha agency will get involved... *snickers* oh man... so much stuff XD  
anywho, get on with the next, my drama sense is tingling :P till next *Salute-waves* Sayounara, Kira!  
-Ikasury'"_

Kira let out a big smile.

"Huh? Kuzonoha agency…?" Rise asked, popping her head through the door. "Is that a talent agency?"

Kira snickered. "Oh Rise, you don't need to know. And thank you! I played the Persona remake for the PSP, and Eternal Punishment with a cousin waaaaaay back in the day. But hearing Boss Kirijo mention the Nanjo Group in P3 sure got a rise out of me, and I figured there MUST be an awesome fic waiting to be written connecting those two somehow. Who knows if this is it. Also! I'm happy you got the other little easter eggs! To be honest, I had to replay the Persona remake on PSP, as well as FES and P4 a couple of times before I had all this down. I still go to the SMT Wiki every once in a while to confirm things I want to reference. And I'm definitely waiting for the Innocent Sin remake for the PSP!"

Yukari shook her head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about… What is an FES?" She asked. Kira sighed, and opened up another letter.

"Yukari, you would like this one." Kira said after reading it.

"Huh? How come?" She asked, looking over his shoulder. She read the letter aloud.

"DemonRaily writes, _'Well at first, after reading the summary I did not think about the story too much, but after I started reading the story itself I quite liked it. You are playing the plot out quite nicely._

_I have a theory about why Minato is doing it of my own so far, if you wanna hear it just tell me if not that's okay as well, no?_

_Well for the pairings, what can I say, I just despise Yukari, and Minato X Yukari I just hate, for there is no other female character so bitchy and uselessly stuck up in entire persona series. But I guess The three way pairing of yours may as well do. Well other pairings I support, well just say the way I base some of them would take some time to explain...' _…WHAT? BITCHY AND USELESSLY STUCK UP?" Yukari exclaimed. "Who is this? I'll kill them!"

Junpei fell off the couch, rolling on the floor.

"HAHAHA! Oh man! This guy is AWESOME!" He said, laughing.

"What are you implying?" Yukari yelled, "That he's right or something?"

Kira laughed nervously.

"Err, umm… anyway, sure! I'd love to hear your theory. What I love about this series is that there are so many little angles one can pursue about a character, for the fact that the game itself draws heavily upon psychology. Most people play through like, P4 and go through each dungeon and say 'there's Kanji being gay in a sauna place' followed by some after school special realization or something. They don't realize that each character represents a common psychological complex. All these different facets of psychology—gender, sexuality, family dynamics, memento mori, etc. I love it so much. It could even be discussed at length in a college class I think.

As for Yukari… it's funny, but I've just started a new FES playthrough—your comment rang in my head during the beach vacation scene, when Minato talks to Yukari and she bites his head off for no reason. 'You think you know me! You know nothing about me!'"

Kira and Junpei snuck a high five, snickering.

"I'm going to destroy both of you…" Yukari growled. Kira laughed sheepishly.

"Ehehe—next letter!"

Yukari threw an envelope at Kira's face. "This one is pretty good! You should read it!"

Kira grinned. "R-really? Is it a cute girl asking for my number?" He tore open the envelope.

"D writes, '_this fucking sucks'_" Kira hung his head. Yukari snickered.

"Serves you right!" She said, sticking her tongue out. Kira snatched another envelope.

"Whatever… (coughbitchycough). Ahem! We Are Legion writes, _'You know, I enjoy how to depicted the slight animosity between SEES towards IT, as potential dangerous Persona users, and the IT just not knowing. Writing has a few grammar and spelling errors, but still readable._

_If anything, the two criticisms I have for this is too much dialogue between character action (which I know you can write well, Yukiko's chapter 8 was brilliantly written) and Souji/Yukari pairing. Although I have nothing against the pairing itself, you just haven't explored Souji's reason for being with her when he had a past thing with Yukiko. On the other hand, I love how Yukari is slightly attracted to him because he reminds her of Minato._

_Anyway, looking forward to more.'"_

Kira nodded. "Excellent points, sire! And… apologies for the spelling errors. I sort of agree with the 'two much dialogue' comment. My writing in general, when it comes to fiction anyway, is very dialogue driven. I noticed this when I read another fic. It was another Persona fic titled, 'What The Butler Saw', written by Pathworkearth. The author's writing style relays so much information to the reader even _without _dialogue, and after finishing (and reviewing it) I decided to strive to be like him/her. It's an awesome fic and throws out a lot of crazy Persona / Devil Summoner mythos, so if you're a hardcore fan, you'd love it. While I'm on the subject of awesome fics, take the time to read 'Did Not Expect That' by Myths Maki. It includes a FEMALE Souji, a concept that blew me away, yet at the same time love! Hilarious stuff. Both authors have styles I'd love to emulate. "

The blood from Souji's face disappeared. "Female…?"

Memories of the 'Miss' Yasogami High Pageant flashed in his mind. He shuddered.

"Thank you for your compliment regarding chapter 8!" Kira continued, "It was a favorite of mine. I was surprised I could write that way about Yukiko, seeing as how as a character I didn't find her as deep as some of the other Persona girls, like Aigis or Naoto. Alas, that's what happens when you decide to write while listening to good music!

…As an extra, I wrote the SEES and Investigation fight scenes while listening to 'Unavoidable Battle' and 'The Almighty (Dual Mix)' The latter has an incredible piano intro that is awesome to listen to while reading the part where—well you can mess with the timing. Hehe."

Kira finished.

"And with that, dear readers, I shall close. Thank you all once again for taking the time to _read,_ let alone review my story! I hope you all stick with me as I finish this story! Ja ne-!"

* * *

A/N: As of now,2/13/11, **GxG Chapitre II: Two In Harmony** is about 2% written, and is still in the initial planning phases. In the meantime, I might release some other stuff.


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